Figure 4.

STAT3 and β-catenin interact in a complex manner. (a) shows that individual knock-down of both STAT3 and β-catenin (SW620^STAT3− and SW620^βcat− respectively) results in inhibition of cell proliferation when compared with controls (SW620^control). β-catenin has a more marked effect although combined knock-down (SW620^STAT3−/^β-cat−) results in a lesser effect than knock-down of β-catenin alone (P < 0.01). The right hand panel confirms knock-down of STAT3 and β-catenin. (b) shows that there was no difference in the percentage of apoptotic cells. (c) demonstrates flow cytometry analysis of SW620 following knock-down of STAT3 and β-catenin. This shows that in all conditions, there are changes in the proportion of cells in G1 phase and that delayed progression through G1 may be the partial loss of β-catenin function that is exerted by STAT3. The numbers in the boxes represent the percentage of cells in each phase of the cell cycle. (d) STAT3 and β-catenin both inhibit cell motility but there is no notable interaction when they are knocked down in combination compared to individual knock-down.