FIGURE 4.

Iron chelation and the preservation of mitochondrial function reduced TGF-β-induced EMT. Immunoblot analysis for E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin. (A) A549 cells were incubated for 1 h with deferoxamine (DFO) (10 μM) or vehicle and treated with TGF-β (10 ng/ml) for 72 h (B) A549 cells were incubated for 1 h with MitoQ (100 nM) or vehicle and then treated with TGF-β (10 ng/ml) for 72 h β-actin served as the standard. E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and vimentin expression was assessed by densitometric analysis of the immunoblots. Band intensities were normalized to that of β-actin. Data are representative of three experiments. All data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001, based on two-way ANOVA with the Newman–Keuls post-hoc test. NS, not significant.