Figure 4

TGFβ decreases E-cadherin expression. A: The figure shows representative photos of control, Rb-/-, p53-/- and p21 ^Cip1-/- cells 96 hours after plating, TGFβ-treated or not for 72 hours labelled for E-cadherin, N-cadherin, SMAα, vimentin and CK18. Positive controls: E-cadherin: membrane staining of hepatocytes; N-cadherin: mouse primary hepatic stellate cells; SMAα: mouse primary hepatic stellate cell; cytokeratin 18: staining of hepatocytes but not sinusoidal cells; vimentin: intense staining of sinusoidal cells but not hepatocytes. B: E-cadherin and snail expression corrected for 18S amplification in hepatocytes treated or not with TGFβ for 72 hours. Repeat real time RT-PCR with independent samples showed similar results except for snail expression in p21-/- which was already high and did not further increase after TGFβ-treatment.