Figure 3.

Shikonin impairs the invasiveness of QBC939 cells. (A) QBC939 cells were treated with various concentrations of Shikonin for 24 h and detected by Transwell invasion assays. Representative photomicrographs of the membrane-associated cells (purple part) were assayed using crystal violet staining (magnification 400×). (B) Semiquantitative analysis of the anti-invasion effects of Shikonin on QBC939 cells (*P < 0.01, compared with the control). (C) Changes of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 mRNA expression were analyzed by real-time PCR (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, compared with the control). (D, E) Expression of EGFR and MMP-9 analyzed by Western Blot (**P < 0.01, compared with the control).