Figure 7
Fluorescence micrographs showing representative NuMA staining patterns in individual nuclei for eight different phenotypes. In previous work [5] the radial nuclear distribution of NuMA was analyzed from 3D multichannel fluorescence images of thousands of individual nuclei. The human mammary epithelial cells were either non-neoplastic (top row) or malignant (bottom row) and were cultured in Matrigel™ (3D culture) for up to 12 days. Optical sections from 3D images, taken through the approximate midplane of individual nuclei are displayed. The optical sections were chosen to show representative features of the NuMA staining pattern. Panels a, b, c and d, show NuMA staining from non-neoplastic cells cultured for 3, 5, 10 and 12 days, representing cells present in incremental differentiation steps, respectively. Panels e, f, g, and h, show NuMA staining from malignant cells cultured for 4, 5, 10 and 11 days, representing cells present in tumors of increasing sizes, respectively. Notice that the nuclei of malignant cells are consistently larger than the nuclei of non-neoplastic cells. The bar represents 5 microns.