Research Article
Melittin Inhibits Hypoxia-Induced Vasculogenic Mimicry Formation and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition through Suppression of HIF-1/Akt Pathway in Liver Cancer
Figure 1
Effect of melittin on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of hepatoma cells. The inhibitory rates of melittin on the SMMC-7721, Huh7, and HepG2 hepatoma cells were determined under normal condition (a) and in the presence of CoCl2 (b). Then the effect of melittin on CoCl2-induced migration (c, d) and invasion (e, f) of SMMC-7721, Huh7, and HepG2 hepatoma cells was examined by transwell assay. SMMC-7721, Huh7, and HepG2 hepatoma cells were seeded into the upper compartment of a Transwell Boyden chamber with CoCl2 (150 μM) or CoCl2 + melittin. The control group was cultured without CoCl2 and melittin. At least 6 random fields (×100) per condition were counted. Data are expressed as means ± S.D. (N=6) P<0.05, P<0.01 compared with control group; P<0.05, P<0.01 compared with CoCl2 group.
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