Fig. 4

Matrix stiffness mediated by CAFs-derived LOX promotes invasion ability of OSCC cells. A Elastic modulus(G’) of type I collagen stimulated by CM from CAFs cells appeared to change over time. B Relative stiffness of collagen in each groups under stable condition was shown. Elastic modulus(G’) were measured by MARS60 microinfrared rheometer. C Representative immunofluorescence images of F-actin staining in Cal27 cells were shown. Green: F-actin; Blue: DAPI (400 ×). D Representative H&E staining images of Cal27 cells cultured with NFs and CAFs in 3D co-culture system were shown. (A1-H1, 100 × ; A2-H2, 200 × ; A3-H3, 400 ×). E The depth of Cal27 cells invasion into the collagen was calculated using imageJ (n = 5 per condition). F The protein expression of LOX and EMT markers in Cal27 cells cultured on collagen gels were measured by western blot assays. β-actin served as loading control. The data are presented as the means ± SD; Scale bar: 50 μm; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001