Figure 6.

Gli-1 siRNA abolishes the effects of CCL2-mediated invasion and EMT in HCC cells. (A) Knockdown of Gli-1 by siRNA for 48 h was confirmed by western blot analysis. (B) The effect on cell invasion in response to Gli-1 knockdown. After transfection with siRNA for 48 h, the cells were seeded into a Matrigel-coated invasion chamber with or without CCL2 for 24 h. The number of cells was counted under a light microscope. (C) The number of invaded cells was quantified by counting the cells from 5 random fields at ×200 magnification. The data are representative of 3 independent experiments. (D) The effects of Gli-1 siRNA on the expression of Snail, SMO, Gli-1, E-cadherin and vimentin. After transfection of the cells with siRNA for 48 h, Snail, SMO, Gli-1, E-cadherin and vimentin expression levels were determined by western blot analysis. Column, mean (n=3); bar, SD; *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. CCL2, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; SMO, smoothened.