Figure 1.

Rapamycin alleviates PQ-induced EMT in A549 and MRC-5 cells. (A) Western blot analysis of the EMT markers E-cadherin and α-SMA. The western blotting results of (B) E-cadherin and (C) α-SMA were quantified. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure the mRNA expression levels of (D) E-cadherin and (E) α-SMA. (F) Immunofluorescent staining was performed to detect E-cadherin in A549 cells (magnification, ×400). *P<0.05, **P<0.01 and ***P<0.001 as indicated. PQ, paraquat; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; SMA, smooth muscle actin.