Fig. 7

Effects of FASN, FSCN1 or SPTBN1 knockdown on EMT and MMPs in liver cancer. a–c mRNA expression of EMT-associated markers E-cadherin, N-cadherin, vimentin and transcription factors Snail and Twist were analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Knockdown of FASN or FSCN1 in HepG2 and SMCC7721 cells significantly decreased N-cadherin, vimentin, Snail and Twist, and increased E-cadherin expression, whereas knockdown of SPTBN1 produced the opposite results. d–f Western blot analyses were used to analyze the inhibition efficiency of FASN, FSCN1 or SPTBN1 siRNA. The protein expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in HepG2 and SMCC7721 cells were significantly reduced following silencing of FASN or FSCN1, whereas these proteins were increased following SPTBN1 knockdown. The band intensity analysis of protein levels was performed using actin as reference in western blot. Each experiment was performed in triplicate. *P < 0.05. Values are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. FASN fatty acid synthase, FSCN1 fascin actin-bundling protein 1, SPTBN1 spectrin β, non-erythrocytic 1, EMT epithelial–mesenchymal transition, MMP matrix metallopeptidase, siRNA small interfering RNA