Fig. 7

CD44 and ERK1/2 inhibition and the migration and invasion of MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells. MDA-MB231 cells were transiently transfected with CD44 siRNA (as described in the Methods section), and changes in the cellular characteristics were investigated. a Representative Western blot demonstrating that the silencing of CD44 expression induces changes in pAKT levels. After CD44 knockdown, MDA-MB231 cells were subjected to b Transwell migration and c Transwell invasion assays. Statistical comparisons were made with Student’s t-test (b and c). All error bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 4). *p < 0.05. d MDA-MB468 and e MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells were treated with U0126 (10 μM) or left untreated for 24 h, and Western blotting was used to determine CD44 expression. The expression of pERK1/2 was also analyzed as an experimental control. The blots shown are representative of three independent experiments (n = 3)