Fig. 3. PEAK1 induced NSCLC cell metastasis and EMT in a mouse model.

a Representative images of peritoneal dissemination in the 95D-Ctrl and 95D-PEAK1 groups. b Peritoneal dissemination metastatic nodules were counted and analyzed by Student’s t-test. c Tumor cells showed marked pleomorphism and multinucleation by H&E staining with PEAK1 upregulation, and peritoneal dissemination tumor nodules showed clearly increased N-cadherin, MMP2 and MMP9 expression and decreased E-cadherin expression upon PEAK1 upregulation compared with the controls as analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Scale bar, 100 μm. d Western blot analysis of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, MMP2 and MMP9 in peritoneal metastatic nodules. e The levels of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, MMP2 and MMP9 were calculated. *P < 0.05