Figure 8.

Loss-of-function of MKL1 promotes MDA-231 cell motility through down-regulating Pfn1 expression. A, immunoblot analyses of MKL1, SRF, Pfn1, and GADPH (loading control) expression in MDA-231 cells co-transfected with the indicated siRNAs (control versus MKL1) and overexpression vectors (GFP-IRES backbone (EV) versus GFP-IRES-Pfn1). B, box-whisker plot summarizing the average speed of migration of these four groups of cells (transfected cells were identified by GFP fluorescence) in random-motility assays. In the plot, the middle line, the upper and lower hinges of the box represent the median, 75th and 25th percentile of data, and the whiskers represent the maximum and minimum values (data summarized from three experiments; n, number of cells analyzed in each group pooled from all experiments; *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001; NS, not significant).