Figure 3

Integrin αv regulates mesenchymal gene expression. (A) Real-time qPCR mRNA analysis of various mesenchymal genes in MDA-MB-231 cells infected with control shRNA (Co. sh) or αv integrin knockdown shRNAs (KD 1 and KD 2). The RNA levels (± SD) of αv integrin, N-Cadherin, Slug, Snail and Vimentin are normalized to GAPDH expression. (B) Left, immunoblot detection of N-cadherin, Snail and α-smooth muscle actin protein in the cells shown in panel A. Right, quantification of the protein levels: three independent experiments, average ± SD. (C) αv integrin mRNA expression positively correlates with the mesenchymal markers N-Cadherin, Slug and Vimentin in a large breast cancer cell line dataset [31]. Pearsons’ coefficient tests were performed to assess statistical significance. (D) Scatter plots showing positive correlations between αv integrin, Slug and Vimentin expression in breast cancer patients using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) [GEO:GSE9309]. Pearsons’ coefficient tests were performed to assess statistical significance.