T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase promotes tumorigenesis and metastasis of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms via mitogen-activated protein kinase axis activation

Figure 2 Effect of T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase knockdown on proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in BON-1 cells. A: Western blotting of T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) expression in normal pancreatic duct epithelial cells (HPDE), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines (Mia-2, SW-1990), and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cell lines (BON-1, QGP-1); B and C: Western blot confirming TOPK knockdown in BON-1 cells transfected with short hairpin TOPK; D: Colony formation assay showing reduced colony formation in TOPK knockdown BON-1 cells compared to control; E: Cell counting kit-8 assay demonstrating decreased cell proliferation in TOPK knockdown BON-1 cells; F: Immunofluorescence staining showing reduced N-cadherin and vimentin expression in TOPK knockdown cells; G and H: Western blot analysis confirming the reduction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related proteins N-cadherin and vimentin in TOPK knockdown cells. The mean ± SD is used for data representation. ^aP < 0.01; ^bP < 0.001; ^cP < 0.0001. TOPK: T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; shNC: Short hairpin negative control; shTOPK: Short hairpin T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase; DAPI: 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole.