Fig. 4.

ITGA9 KO down-regulates β-catenin level and overexpressing β-catenin reverses the inhibitory effect of ITGA9 KO on tumor growth and metastasis. a Representative images of Western blot analysis of total β-catenin, non-phospho-β-catenin and phospho-β-catenin levels in ITGA9 KO and re-expressing cells with or without MG-132 treatment. Cells were treated with a vehicle control or MG-132 (10 μM) for 2 h and collected for Western blot analysis. b Representative overlaid confocal microscopy images of IF staining of β-catenin (red) and nuclear DNA DAPI (blue) in mouse mammary tumors from injection of LM2 parental, ITGA9 KO, ITGA9 KO vector control or ITGA9 re-expressing cells. Scale bar, 20 μm. c Representative Western blot showing β-catenin overexpression in ITGA9 KO cells. d Mouse mammary tumor images and lung ex vivo IVIS bioluminescence analysis images. e Representative overlaid confocal microscopy images of IF staining of β-catenin (red) and nuclear DNA DAPI (blue) staining in mouse mammary tumors from injection of vector control or β-catenin overexpressing ITGA9 KO LM2 cells. Scale bar, 20 μm.