Figure 4

Expression of EMT-related genes in hybrids. Cells grown on coverslips were fixed and stained for the expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin. Magnification 200×. No E-cadherin expression was detected in all cells types (panel A, GES-1; panel D, CM-MSCs; panel G, hybrids); N-cadherin expression was weak in GES-1 cells (panel B), while CM-MSCs had strong expression (panel E). The hybrids had moderate N-cadherin expression (panel H). GES-1 cells expressed vimentin weakly (panel C), while both CM-MSCs (panel F) and hybrids (panel I) had strong expression. Twist and Slug mRNA transcription were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. Compared with GES-1 cells, the mRNA expressions of Twist in CM-MSCs and fusion cells were upregulated by (15.2 ± 8.7)- and (8.7 ± 2.1)-fold, respectively; similarly, the mRNA expressions of Slug in CM-MSCs and fusion cells were upregulated by (27.8 ± 4.2)- and (9.2 ± 1.8)-fold, respectively (p < 0.05) (panel J). Means ± SD of three representative results are shown.