Figure 4.

Upregulation of SCD1 expression rescues the invasion of HCC cells cultured on soft matrix substrates

HCC cells transfected with mock or SCD1-expressing plasmid (ovSCD1) were cultured on polyacrylamide hydrogels with the indicated rigidities (1.6 and 25.6 kPa) and plastic plates in 3D Matrigel overlay culture. (A) SCD1 protein expression was analyzed by western blot. (B) Bright-field images of HCC cells. The in vitro invasion of HCC cells was quantified by the degree of cell scattering using ImageJ software. (C) The expression of EMT-related markers (E-cadherin and N-cadherin) was assessed by western blot. (D) Ratio of monounsaturated/saturated fatty acids in all lipid species. (E) Phospholipids levels were determined by lipidomic mass spectrometry. (F) Hue-saturation-brightness images of HCC cells. The value of the minimum color (blue) was set to generalized polarization (GP) = −1 and the maximum (red) was set to 1. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001.