Fig. 4: CAFs could decrease BCa apoptosis induced by cisplatin via upregulation of ERβ/Bcl-2 signalling.

a qRT-PCR results showed increased ERβ expression in BCa cells (T24 and 5637) after co-culture with CAFs. The mean expression value of the control cells (T24, 5637) was defined as 1. b Western blotting results showed that ERβ protein expression increased in BCa cells (T24, 5637) after co-culture with CAFs. c Validation of the ERβ shRNA knockdown efficiency in T24 and 5637 cells using western blotting (right) and relative mRNA expression (left) levels of ERβ in T24 and 5637 cells at 48 h after transfection. Expression values were shown relative to those of the untreated group (control = 100%) (left). d, e Knocking down ERβ in BCa cells can reverse the effects of CAFs on BCa cell resistance to apoptosis induced by cisplatin (T24, 25 mg/L; 5637, 6 mg/L). f qRT-PCR results showed that Bcl-2 expression levels were significantly increased in both T24 and 5637 cells after co-culture with CAFs and could be partially reversed by ERβ knockdown. The mean expression value of the control cells (T24, 5637) was defined as 1. g Western blotting results showed that Bcl-2 expression was increased in T24 and 5637 cells after co-culture with CAFs and decreased after knocking down ERβ. All procedures were conducted after cells were cultured in an appropriate concentration of cisplatin (T24, 25 mg/L; 5637, 6 mg/L). Data are presented as the mean ± SD. *P < 0.05