Figure 2.

H-CAFs promote HCC invasion and migration by inducing EMT. (A) Microscopic images of HCC cells (Hep3B and 97L) co-cultured with NSF-CM or CAF-CM for 2-4 days. (B) Western blotting analysis shows that Hep3B and 97L exhibit a significant decrease in the expression of E-cadherin and a corresponding increase in the levels of fibronectin, N-cadherin, vimentin, α-SMA and Slug after treatment with CAF-CM. β-actin was used as a loading control. (C) Representative images and analysis show that the invaded cell s of Hep3B and 97L cells with or without CM treatment. The statistical analysis was shown in (D). The error bars represent ± SEM, ** P<0.01. Original magnification, 200×. (E) Microscopic observation of the areas between scratch fronts was recorded 0 and 24 h after scratching the surface of a confluent layer of HCC cells (Hep3B). NSF-CM, normal skin fibroblast conditional medium. CAF-CM, CAFs conditional medium.