Fig. 4

Details of cell morphology changes induced by cholesterol depletion. MDA-MB 231 cells were grown for 24 h and treated with MbCD for 2 h. Control (a) and treated cells (b) were stained with the F-actin probe Texas red-Phalloidin (red) and the nuclear stain Dapi (blue). To analyze the Z axis of the cells in culture, stained cells were visualized with a confocal microscope. A selected slice of the 16 μm stack, 1 μm apart, is shown against the Y and Z section along the yellow line in the right and X and Z section in the bottom for control (c) and treated (e) cultures. Note the increase in the Z-axis in treated cells. The lateral reconstruction for the control (d) and treated cultures (f) better illustrate the increase in the Z-axis of treated cells. Scale bar in A represent 10 μm in (a, b), and scale bar in C represents 10 μm in (c, e)