Fig. 6

Knockdown of PPM1A promotes the invasive capacity of HCC cells, which is intensified by exogenous TGF-β1. a–b mRNA (a) and protein (b) levels of PPM1A in Huh-7 cells were assessed by qRT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. Huh-7 cells were transfected with 100 nM PPM1A siRNA (si-PPM1A) or control siRNA (si-NC) for 36 h before detection. GAPDH and tubulin served as internal controls for mRNA and protein loading, respectively. c–d Huh-7 cells were transfected with si-PPM1A or si-NC and treated with TGF-β1 (200 pM) or vehicle. Wound healing (c) and transwell invasion (d) assays were performed to analyze the migration and invasion ability of Huh-7 cells. e Western blot analysis for vimentin, E-cadherin, N-cadherin protein in Huh-7 cells following transfection with si-PPM1A or si-NC. Data are the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 as evaluated using Student’s t-test