Figure 4. Effects of SNAI2-siRNA on the expression of genes associated to EMT, cell cycle, cell adhesion and neuroendocrine differentiation in PC3 cells, as assessed by real-time RT-PCR and Western Blot analysis.

Real-time RT-PCR showed that SNAI2 mRNA expression in PC3 cells was silenced by 80% following 72 h of SNAI2-siRNA treatment. In SNAI2-silenced PC3 cells, E-Cadh was remarkably up-regulated, whereas N-Cadh was slightly, but significantly, down-regulated along with the Cyclin D1. The neural tissue associated adhesion molecules, NrCAM and N-Cadh 2, and the neuroendocrine markers, CHGA and ENO2 were also considerably down-modulated in SNAI2-siRNA treated PC3 cells. Data are representative of three independent experiments. Western Blot analyses of Ctrl-siRNA and SNAI2-siRNA treated PC3 cells confirmed, at protein level, this gene expression regulation. β-actin was used as a loading control. *p < 0.05 Student's t-test compared with Ctrl cells.