Morphology and growth rates of MCF7 and pII cells.

Panels A and B: Phase-contrast optical photomicrographs of single colonies of MCF7 and pII respectively. Scale bar represents 100 µm. Panel C: Cell shape analysis was performed using an ImageJ freeware package; histograms show mean cell parameter ± SEM of 4 independent determinations quantifying morphological differences between MCF7 and pII cells (p < 0.04). Panel D: Equivalent numbers of MCF7 and pII cells (10⁴) were seeded into 12-well plates and grown over 6 days. Cells were harvested from triplicate wells on the days indicated and growth determined by cell counting. Differences at days 4, 5 and 6 were significant with p≤0.0001.