Skip to main content
. 2012 Jul 20;7(7):e40378. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040378

Figure 7. SLUG plays a critical role in SPARC-mediated melanoma cell migration.

Figure 7

(A) Depletion of SLUG blunts SPARC-induced cell migration: 501mel cells control (cl. CTRL) or overexpressing SPARC (cl. SPARC) were transfected with control siRNA (siCTRL) or SLUG siRNAs (siSLUG) for 4 days. Chemotaxis was assassed using Boyden chamber assays. Cells were left to migrate for 20 hours, then fixed, stained and counted. Results are expressed in percent of control. Columns, means of triplicates from two independent experiments; error bars, SD. *P<0.05; NS, not significant (Student’s test). Representative images of lower surface of membranes are shown. (B) Analysis of SLUG expression: levels of SPARC-Myc transgene, endogenous SPARC, SLUG, SNAIL and HSP60 (loading control) in the resulting cells were analyzed by immunoblotting. (C) Ectopic expression of SLUG bypasses migratory defects of SPARC-depleted cells: Control (bl. CTRL) or SLUG-overexpressing (bl. SLUG) 501mel cells were transfected with control siRNA (siCTRL) or SPARC siRNAs (siSPARC) for 4 days. Chemotaxis was assessed using Boyden chamber assays as described in (A). *P<0.05 (Student’s test). (D) Analysis of E-cadherin expression: levels of SPARC, SLUG, E-cadherin and HSP60 (loading control) in the resulting cells were analyzed by immunoblotting.