Fig. 3

Disrupted claudin-4 diminishes ovarian tumor cell motility. Monolayers of SKOV3 (a, b) and OVCAR3 (c) cells or SKOV3 control (d) or claudin-4 knockdown (a, e), via shRNA, were scratched and then incubated at 37 °C in the presence of 400 μM control peptide (“Cont peptide”) or 400 μM claudin mimic peptide (“DFYNP”) for 8 (SKOV3) or 18 (OVCAR3) hours. Representative fluorescent images of nuclei (dapi staining) of scratched monolayers at time 0 and 8 h post scratch are shown for claudin-4 expressing and claudin-4 knockdown SKOV3 cells (a). Distance across the gap remaining was measured immediately following scratching and at 8 or 18 h after treatment using SlideBook software. Yellow dashed lines represent boundaries of wound. Percent closure of the wound was plotted (b-e). Mean ± s.e.m, n = 4 per treatment group, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 vs. control peptide treated