Fig. 7

The impact of Box5 (a Wnt5a antagonist) on the expression profiles of EMT- and Wnt signaling-related molecules, as well as its influence on the migratory capacity in TGFβ1-treated ARPE-19 cells. A–E The protein levels of fibronectin, Wnt5a, Dvl2, and Naked1 in TGFβ1 (10 ng/mL)-treated ARPE-19 cells with or without different concentrations of Box5 (10, 45 and 90 μmol/L) for 48 h. F–H The expression and quantitative analysis of active β-catenin protein in the nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts of ARPE-19 cells among indicated groups; Lamin B1 and GAPDH were employed as nuclear- or cytoplasmic-specific protein loading controls, respectively. I–J Bright field images and immunofluorescence analysis of fibronectin, vimentin, α-SMA, collagen I and active β-catenin proteins in ARPE-19 cells among Vehicle (0.9% DMSO), TGFβ1 + Vehicle (0.9% DMSO), and TGFβ1 + Box5 (90 μmol/L) groups. Scale bars, 50 μm. K and L Cell scratch assay was performed to examine the migration and invasion of ARPE-19 cells among different groups. Scale bars = 250 μm. α-SMA, alpha-smooth muscle actin; Dvl, dishevelled; TGFβ1, transforming growth factor beta 1. All results performed above are presented as mean ± SE from three independent experiments. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 compared with TGFβ1-treated ARPE-19 cells