Figure 4

EMT contributes to high metastatic capacity of CD133 ⁺ CXCR4 ⁺ colon cancer cells. (A) Expression levels of mRNAs encoding E-cadherin, β-catenin, vimentin, Snail, and N-cadherin in CD133⁺CXCR4⁺ cells and CD133⁺CXCR4^- cells, as determined by real-time RT-PCR. GAPDH mRNA was used to normalize the variability in template loading. The data are reported as mean ± SD. (*P <0.05; **P <0.01 compared with the CD133⁺CXCR4^- group). (B) Real-time RT-PCR was performed to determine the mRNA expression levels of E-cadherin (left panel) and vimentin (right panel) in CD133⁺CXCR4^- and CD133⁺CXCR4⁺ cells with or without SDF-1 treatment. GAPDH mRNA was used to normalize the variability in template loading. The data are reported as mean ± SD. (*P <0.05 compared with the control CD133⁺CXCR4^- group). (C) A Boyden chamber assay was performed to compare the invasive capacities of CD133⁺CXCR4^- and CD133⁺CXCR4⁺ cells with or without SDF-1 treatment. A representative photograph is shown in the left panel. Quantification of three independent experiments is shown in the right panel. Bars represent the mean ± SD of invasive cells. (*P <0.05 compared with the control CD133⁺CXCR4⁺group). EMT, epithelial-mesenchylal transition; SDF-1, stromal cell-derived factor-1.