Figure 4.

Shemetic of ESCO2 that exerts antimetastatic function by repressing MMP2 expression.

Notes: (A) Proteins extracted from cells with ESCO2 overexpression of depletion were subjected to Western blot. The expressions of EMT markers, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and Vimentin were examined. (B) The mRNA and protein levels of MMP2 in stable cells were determined using qRT-PCR and Western blot. Data are presented as mean±SEM. *P<0.05. (C) The active MMP2 expression was determined in CRC cells with altered expression of ESCO2. (D) The effect of ESCO2 overexpression on the activity of MMP2 promoter was measured using luciferase report assays. (E) The mRNA expression of MMP2 and ESCO2 was determined in 32 CRC tissues. The correlation was evaluated. (F) Stable cells were transfected with MMP2 overexpression vector or siRNA for 24 hours. Transwell assays were used to examine the role of MMP2 in ESCO2-mediated cell migration. Data are presented as mean±SEM. *P<0.05, **P<0.01.

Abbreviations: CRC, colorectal cancer; EMT, epithelial–mesenchymal transition; qRT-PCR, quantitative real-time PCR; SEM, standard error of the mean.