Fig. 5
Role of exosomal LAP-TGF-β1 in lung micro-metastases propagation. (A-B) After treating LuECs with PBS or exosomes or TGF-β1 for 24 h, GFP-labeled 231 LuT3 TGFB1 KO1 cells were implanted into transwell inserts (n = 5). Scale bars: 200 μm. (A) Exhibits extravasation on day 4; (B) Shows the 8-day process of basement membrane invasion and subsequent mammosphere genesis. (C-E) Post a 3-week intravenous administration of exosomes from either 231 LuT3 or 231 LuT3 TGFB1 KO cells, mice received an intravenous injection of 5 × 105 GFP-Luc-labeled 231 LuT3 cells (n = 5–6). (C) Schematic representation of the TNBC lung metastasis model influenced by exosomes. (D) Depicts luminescent lung images alongside metastases quantification on days 5, 10, and 15 post cell injection. (E) By day 15 post-injection, a visual representation of full lung sections reveals GFP-tagged metastases; quantification of total metastatic area and lesion count per lung is presented. Scale bars: 10 mm and 1 mm. Data shown as mean ± SD