Fig. 4. ELF3 promotes EMT by regulating ZEB1 activation in HCC cells.

a mRNA and protein expression of ELF3, E-cadherin, ZEB1, fibronectin, N-cadherin in MHCC-LM3-shELF3 cells and in Huh7-ELF3 cells (b) and their control cells were analyzed by qPCR and western blot. c Protein expression of E-cadherin and ZEB1 in MHCC-LM3 and Huh7 cells with ZEB1 knockdown were analyzed by western blot. d Representative IHC images of ELF3 and E-cadherin expression in HCC tissues (magnification ×400, scale bar: 50 μm). e The correlation analysis between ELF3 and E-cadherin in HCC samples. Each error bar represents the mean ± SD of three replicate samples. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 based on the Student's t test