Fig. 4

Down-regulation of Smad4 reverses EMT to MET in HCC GR cells. a Left panel: Real-time RT-PCR assay was used to detect the mRNA level of Smad4 in HepG2 GR cells transfected with Smad4 siRNAs. Right panel: Western blotting analysis was performed to measure the expression of Smad4 in HepG2 GR cells after Smad4 siRNA transfection. b Down-regulation of Smad4 caused reversal of EMT phenotype of HCC GR cells. HepG2 GR and SMMC-7721 GR cells transfected with control siRNA exhibited a fibroblastic-type phenotype, while these GR cells transfected with Smad4 siRNA display round-like epithelial cell shape. c HCC GR cells transfected with control siRNA or Smad4 siRNA were used for assessing the expression of EMT markers using Real-time RT-PCR. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 vs control. d HCC GR cells transfected with control siRNA or Smad4 siRNA were used for assessing the expression of EMT markers by Western blotting analysis. CS: control siRNA; SS: Smad4 siRNA