We stained for ER-α using [E115]-ChIP Grade (#ab32063, Abcam, Waltham, MA, USA) antibody at the manufacturer’s recommended dilution. We then fixed and permeabilized cells using eBioscience Intracellular Fixation and Permeabilization Buffer Set (#88-8824-00, Invitrogen, Waltham, MA, USA). We based flow cytometry gates on secondary only control.
We measured reactive oxygen species (ROS) using CellROX Green Reagent (#C10444, ThermoFisher), labile iron using BioTracker Far-red Labile Fe2+ dye (#SCT037, Sigma Aldrich), intracellular Zn2+ using BioTracker 515 Green Zn2+ DA Dye (#SCT032, Sigma Aldrich), intracellular Cu+ using BioTracker Green Copper Live Cell Dye (#SCT041, Sigma Aldrich), and relative lipid ROS using BODIPY-C11 reagent (#C10445, ThermoFisher) following manufacturer’s recommendations. We separated signals from cancer cells and stromal cells by GFP-tagged cancer cells for iron, mCherry-NLS-tagged cancer cells for ROS, zinc, and copper stains, and BFP-NLS-tagged cancer cells for lipid ROS.