FIGURE 8:

K18 or plakoglobin knockdown accelerates collective cell migration. (A, B) Knockdown effects of K18 or PG on K18 or PG expression in MDCK cells. Cells were transfected with control, K18-, or PG-targeting siRNAs and incubated for 48 h. Cells were harvested, lysed, and analyzed by immunoblotting with anti-K18 or anti-PG antibody, respectively. (C, D) DIC images of the migration of the control, K18-, or PG-siRNA–transfected finger-like protrusions at the start (0 min) and end (300 min) of the time-lapse observation. Trajectories of individual cells were overlaid. Scale bars = 100 μm. (E–H) Velocities of the collective migration and persistence of the direction of collectively migrating control, K18-, or PG-knockdown cells were analyzed as indicated in Figure 1. Data are means ± SD of five independent experiments in E and G (25–37 cells/experiment), and three independent experiments in F and H (15–30 cells/experiment). *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; n.s., not significant (one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test).