Fig. 2: Tenascin-c (TNC) expression is correlated with vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation in glioma cells.

a Different potentials for VM formation in five glioma cell lines were assessed via 3D Matrigel culturing in vitro, which is a universal method for VM evaluation in vitro. Both U251 and A172 cells formed VM-like structures, while U373, U138, and LNZ308 cells did not (the blue mesh indicates VM-like structures). Scale bar = 100 μm. b Western blot analysis revealed that TNC was upregulated in U251 and A172 cells rather than in U373, U138 and LNZ308 glioma cell lines (β-actin used as the loading control). c Correlation analysis revealed that the number of VM structures was correlated with TNC protein expression (r = 0.938, p < 0.05). d, e VM formation ability was stronger in primary cultured cells with higher level of TNC than those with low level of TNC. Glioma cell SYU489 formed VM-like structures, while SYU480, SYU354, and SYU370 did not. At the meanwhile, the expression level of TNC was higher in SYU489 rather than in SYU480, SYU354, and SYU370. f, g Exogenous TNC (10 μg/ml) was used to stimulate U138, U373, and LNZ308 cells for 8 h, and the number of VM structures increased in comparison with that in the control groups. Scale bar = 100 μm. (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001).