Fig. 5

Piwil1 led to acquisition of mesenchymal markers and reduction of epithelial markers. a RT-qPCR and western blot demonstrated expression level of Vimentin, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, Snail and Twist in Ishikawa^NT and Ishikawa^shPiwil1 cells (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01). b RT-qPCR and western blot demonstrated expression level of Vimentin, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, Snail and Twist in HEC-1B^exPiwil1 cells and HEC-1B^EV cells (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01). c Representative images of immunofluorescence staining of EMT markers in Ishikawa^shPiwil1 cells or HEC-1B^exPiwil1 cells compared with control cells. Nuclei were stained with DAPI. Scale bars, 25 μm