Fig. 3

MK5 promoted CRC cells invasion and migration in vitro and vivo. a. Immunoblotting of MK5 expression in 4 pairs of human CRC tissues (T) and adjacent non-tumor tissues (N). b. Expression of MK5 in the normal colorectal epithelium cell line (FHC) and CRC cells by immunoblotting. c. Statistical analysis of MK5 expression in TCGA database. d. Correlation analysis of the expression of MK5-AS1 and MK5 in GEPIA. e. Transwell assays were used to determine the changes in invasion and migration abilities of HCT116 and SW620 cells after transfection. Scale bar, 100 μm for E. f. Immunoblotting analysis of EMT-related markers after transfection in CRC cells, respectively. g. The number of metastatic pulmonary nodules was shown and counted. The black arrow marked metastatic nodules. h. After HCT116 cells with knockdown MK5 were injected into the tail vein of nude mice, In vivo fluorescence imaging, the gross lesion in lung tissues and H. E staining and antibody vimentin of metastatic nodules in the lungs were observed (× 400 magnification). Scale bar, 100 μm for H.E. The black arrow marked metastatic nodules. The data represented the mean ± SD from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001