Fig. 6

Emodin can regulate autophagy in HepG2 cells. The combination of emodin and CQ reversed the EMT process. A Cells were treated with 60 μM emodin for 24, 36, and 48 h, and then the expression levels of Beclin1, p62/SQSTM1 and LC3 II were detected by western blotting. B Confocal images of mCherry-GFP-LC3 cells after treatment with 60 μM emodin for 48 h. (Scale bar, 8 μm). C Cells were treated with or without emodin (60 μM) in the absence or presence of CQ (10 μM) for 48 h, and then the expression levels of N-cadherin, β-catenin, Snail and Slug were detected by western blot analysis. β-actin was loaded as controls. D Cells were treated with or without emodin (60 μM) in the absence or presence of CQ (10 μM) for 48 h, Transwell migration and transwell invasion assays were performed on treated cells. (magnification, × 100). Each experiment was repeated at least three times; representative images are shown. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. * P < 0.05. CQ: chloroquine, ns: non-significant