Solamargine Alleviates Proliferation and Metastasis of Cervical Cancer Cells by Blocking the CXCL3-Mediated Erk Signaling Pathway

Figure 5

CXCL3 expression regulated the Erk pathway to influence the metastasis of solamargine-cervical cancer cells. (a, b) Solamargine-treated cells with CXCL3 overexpression in the absence or presence of PD98059 (specific Erk1/2 inhibitor) for 24 h; the protein expression of CXCL3 was detected by western blot. (c) The cervical cancer cells were treated as above and measured the cell migration by scratch test (×100 magnification, scale bar = 100 μm). (d) The cervical cancer cells were treated as above and measured invasive capacity by transwell assay (×250 magnification, scale bar = 50 μm). (e, f) Western blot was performed to measure MMP-2 and MMP-9 protein levels in solamargine-treated cells after the upregulation of CXCL3 and the inhibition of the Erk pathway. GAPDH served as the loading control. vs. control; ^### vs. solamargine + NC; and ^& and ^&& vs. solamargine + CXCL3. h, hours; MMP-2, matrix metalloproteinase 2; MMP-9, matrix metalloproteinase 9; CXCL3, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 3; NC, negative control.

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