Figure 3

Restoration of membranous E-cadherin expression by Cox-2 inhibition. The alteration of E-cadherin protein expression following Cox-2 inhibition was evaluated using the selective Cox-2 inhibitors: celecoxib, NS-398, and SC-791. A: Western blot displayed that Cox-2 inhibition remarkably upregulated the protein expression of E-cadherin in HSC-2 cells compared to DMSO treatment as the control, whereas relatively less upregulation of E-cadherin was shown in HSC-4 cells. (Lane 1, DMSO; 2, Celecoxib 25 μM; 3, NS-398 40 μM; 4, SC-791 10 μM) B: E-cadherin expression on the cell surface was analyzed by flowcytometry. In HSC-2 cells, Cox-2 inhibition elevated the membranous expression of E-cadherin compared to DMSO treatment as the control. C: Cox-2 inhibition in HSC-4 cells resulted in a slight increase of E-cadherin expression. D: Histograms of the membranous expression of E-cadherin in HSC-2 cells with or without Cox-2 inhibition. E: Phase contrast images and immunofluorescent E-cadherin staining of HSC-2 cells. Cox-2 inhibition with celecoxib resulted in the restoration of the epithelial morphology to a polygonal shape, and enhanced intercellular expression of E-cadherin. Scale bar: 20 μm.