SOX4-siRNA reverses the altered expression of E-cadherin, vimentin, and fibronectin (FN) in human peritoneal mesothelial cell lines (HPMCs) induced by TGF-β1. (a, A1) Real-time PCR showed SOX4-siRNA reversed the TGF-β1-reduced messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of E-cadherin in HPMCs, whereas this effect was partially blocked in cells transfected with pre-miR-129-5p. In contrast, opposite results were seen for the expression of vimentin and FN mRNA (A2, A3). Furthermore, real-time PCR also revealed that TGF-β1 significantly increased SOX4 mRNA expression, whereas there was no change following treatment with pre-miR-129-5p (A4). (b) Western blot analyses revealed comparable results for their protein expression compared with mRNA expression. (c) The bar graphs represent the western blot relative band densities for the SOX4 (C1), E-cadherin(C2), vimentin (C3), and FN (C4) compared with β-actin. (d, D1) Western blot analyses show that overexpression of pre-miR-129-5p normalizes the altered expression of E-cadherin and vimentin in HPMCs treated with TGF-β1 or TGF-β1+SOX4. (D2) The bar graphs represent the protein expression relative band densities of E-cadherin and vimentin compared with β-actin. Values are the mean ± s.e.m., n = 3, *P<0.01 vs control, #P<0.01 vs TGF-β1, P<0.01 vs
$P<0.01 vs TGF-β1+pre- miR-129-5p.