Figure 2

CystC and Δ14CystC antagonize E-cadherin downregulation stimulated by TGF-β in NMuMG cells. (a) Control, CystC-expressing, and Δ14CystC-expressing NMuMG cells were incubated in the absence or presence of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1; 5 ng/ml) for 36 hours, whereupon alterations in E-cadherin expression was monitored by immunoprecipitation and subsequent immunoblotting with anti-E-cadherin antibodies. The representative immunoblot depicts the downregulation of E-cadherin expression induced by TGF-β in NMuMG cells. The lower panel shows the alterations in E-cadherin expression (means ± SEM) induced by TGF-β relative to their untreated counterparts observed in three independent experiments. TGF-β significantly downregulated E-cadherin expression in NMuMG cells (*P < 0.05; Student's t-test). (b) NMuMG cells were stimulated with TGF-β1 (5 ng/ml) for 36 hours in the presence of glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins (10 μg/ml) as indicated. E-cadherin expression was monitored by indirect immunofluorescence with anti-E-cadherin antibodies. Shown are representative images from a single experiment that was repeated once with identical results.