Figure 5. uPAR promotes NPC cellular growth, migration, and invasion in part through activation of the JAK–STAT pathway. (A) Immunoblotting was performed with antibodies related to the JAK–STAT pathway in whole-cell lysates from S18 and 5-8F cells expressing shRNAs targeting uPAR or scrambled control (left panel) or HK-1 and Hone-1 cells expressing uPAR or Flag sequences (right panel). (B) Immunoblots of whole-cell lysates from HK-1 and Hone-1-expressing uPAR or Flag sequences after pretreatment with 3 μM INCB018424 (Jak1/Jak2 inhibitor) for 48 h. (C) The growth curves of NPC cells expressing uPAR or Flag sequences as assessed by the MTS assay after pretreatment with INCB018424. *P < 0.05 for uPAR-overexpressing cells treated with INCB018424 compared with DMSO treatment. (D) Migration and invasion in NPC cells expressing uPAR or Flag sequences as evaluated by the Transwell assays after pretreatment with INCB018424. Photomicrographs are 100× (below). The data are presented as the mean ± SD of triplicate replicates. P values were calculated using the Student t test.