Fig. 3

CXCR4 enhanced CRC progression by inducing EMT and Wnt-β-catenin activation. a Representative H&E staining of colonic tissue with tumors from AOM/DSS treated WT and CXCR4^+/− mice with or without AMD3100 treatment. b Representative images were shown to indicate the expression of E-cadherin, Vimentin, and active-β-catenin in different groups (n = 5) determined by immunohistochemistry assay (400 ×). Magnification of active β-catenin in black box was indicated and arrows pointed the nuclear staining of β-catenin. c Immunohistochemistry results were semi-quantified by image-pro plus 6 software and statistical analyses were performed (n = 5 for each group). *P < 0.05 vs. WT mice. ^#P < 0.05 vs. CXCR4^+/− mice. d, e Levels of E-cadherin, vimentin, Snail, c-Myc, active-β-catenin/β-catenin, MMP7 normalized to β-actin were determined by Western blotting assay and statistical analyses were also performed