Fig. 4

Monitoring MCF-7 cancer cell clustering at the single-cell scale. MCF-7 cells that express the LifeAct-mCherry fluorescent reporter were seeded in PDMS micro-wells placed in culture dishes (Additional file 2: Fig. S2) and their clustering was monitored by video-microscopy. a Representative fluorescence images of control (untreated) MCF-7 cells at different time-points during clustering. The dotted line shows the micro-well edge. Scale bar: 50 µm. b Representative micrographs of a MCF-7 cell that express the LifeAct-mCherry fluorescent reporter during aggregation (left panels). Membrane protrusions were automatedly detected (red line). Time is indicated in min. Scale bar: 10 µm. (Right panel) Plot of the aspect ratio of a single cell with mean value (µ) and standard deviation (σ) over 1 h