Fig. 2

Effect of zinc on epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Cells were treated with various concentrations of zinc (0–50 µM) for 24 h. a Cells morphology was examined by phase-contrast microscope; scale bar 100 µm. b Expression of vimentin was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining; scale bar 100 µm. c The expression levels of EMT protein markers were determined by western blotting. The blots were re-probed with β-actin to confirm equal loading of the samples. d The blots were quantified by densitometry and mean data from three independent experiments were normalized to the results. The bars are the mean ± SD of independent triplicate experiments. *p < 0.05 versus untreated control