Figure 1

KB/VCR cells exhibit mesenchymal properties compared to parental KB cells. A. KB/VCR cells exhibit elongated, fibroblastic morphological alterations, whereas the KB cells displayed epithelial cobblestone phenotype. (×10). B. Expression of epithelial markers E-cadherin in KB/VCR cells is decreased, concomitantly with increased expression of mesenchymal markers N-cadherin and vimentin, when compared to KB cells. KB and KB/VCR cells were lysed and used for western blotting analysis, using the GAPDH as a loading control. All blots present in this paper are representatives from at least three independent experiments. Values quantified by Image J from three independent experiments were statistical different. C-D. KB/VCR cells possess more potent motile behavior ability, including migration (C: *P < 0.05 compared to KB negative control; ** P < 0.05 compared to KB with 10%FBS) and invasion (D: *P < 0.05 compared to KB negative control; ** P < 0.01 compared to KB with 10%FBS) in response to serum, in comparison to KB cells. KB/VCR cells or KB cells were loaded into the upper wells, while the growth medium containing 10% serum was added into the lower wells of transwell system with a membrane coated by fibronectin or matrigel, and Serum free medium was used as a negative control. After 8 h, the migrated or invaded cells onto membranes were fixed and quantified as described in materials and methods. Values are the average ± SD of results obtained from three separated experiments.