Figure 5.

Analysis of the activation of the NF-κB pathway with TGF-β1 and TNF-α. (A) Western blot analysis of the effect of IKKβ4i on the response to cytokine stimulation. Pretreatment of the cells with IKKβ4i (10 µM) significantly attenuated TGF-β1- and TNF-α-induced EMT; P<0.05 (n=3). All results were normalized to GAPDH. (B) Effects of IKKβ4i on SW480 cell morphology. (a-c) Cotreatment of the cells with TGF-β1 + TNF-α enhanced the changes in phenotype compared with untreated cells and IKKβ4i-treated cells. (d) The change in phenotype was inhibited by pretreatment with IKKβ4i. The results are representative of three independent experiments. Magnification, ×100. NF-κB, nuclear-factor-κB; TGF-β1, transforming growth factor-β1; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; IKKβ4i, small molecule inhibitor against inhibitor of NF-κB kinase subunit β; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition.