BMI-1 activates hepatic stellate cells to promote the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of colorectal cancer cells

Figure 4 BMI-1 conditioned medium induces activation of the transforming growth factor beta/SMAD pathway in colorectal cancer cells. A: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis showed no difference in the expression of SMAD2 and SMAD3 in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells cultured in conditioned medium (CM) from negative control NC) (NC CM) or CM from BMI-1 overexpressed LX2 (BMI-1 CM); B: Western blot assays of SMAD2, SMAD3, phosphorylated (p)-SMAD2, and p-SMAD3 expression levels in CRC cells cultured in NC CM or BMI-1 CM; C and D: Western blot analysis of the expression of SMAD pathway members and epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related proteins (Snail and vimentin) in CRC cells cultured in NC CM or BMI-1 CM with/without 0.5 μM SB-505124 treatment, the relative expression levels of the proteins were calculated and are shown in D. ^cP < 0.001.