Fig. 5

IGF2BP2 regulates EMT program of HNSCC cells. A FaDu and SCC15 cells were either treated with TGF-β (10 ng/ml) or without. Cell morphologic changes were observed after 72 h. Representative images from 3 independent experiments are shown. Scale bars: 200 μm. B FaDu and SCC15 cells were either treated with TGF-β or without. Cytoskeleton alterations were assessed by immunofluorescence staining with phalloidin, and by confocal scanning after 72 h. White arrows indicate the extensive filopodia and lamellipodia. Representative images from 3 independent experiments are shown. Scale bars: 50 μm. C The results of the western blot analysis of the expression of E-Cadherin in FaDu and SCC15 cells either treated with TGF-β or without. Right panel shows the statistical analysis of western blot. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. D-E FaDu and SCC15 cells underwent transfection with si-RNAs or si-NC after TGF-β treatment. The levels of E-Cadherin, N-Cadherin, and vimentin expression were identified with RT-qPCR (D) and western blotting (E). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. F FaDu and SCC15 cells were transfected with si-RNAs or si-NC after TGF-β treatment. The expression and distribution of E-Cadherin and vimentin was identified by immunofluorescence and confocal scanning. Red: E-Cadherin; Green: vimentin; Blue (DAPI): nuclei. Scale bars: 100 μm. Right panel shows the statistical analysis of immunofluorescence. ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. G-H FaDu and SCC15 cells were transduced with IGF2BP2 and a corresponding control vector, without TGF-β treatment. The expression levels of E-Cadherin, N-Cadherin, and vimentin were identified with RT-qPCR (G) and western blotting (H). **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. All the data are presented in the form of mean ± SD from three independently performed experiments