Liver cancer cell migration is enhanced by p53 knockdown and abrogated by inhibition of β-catenin pathway.

<p>PVTT-1 cells expressing GFP-tagged p53 shRNA (p53KD) and/or ICAT were treated with insulin (10 μg/ml) and TGF-β1 (5 ng/ml) as indicated and used in a wound healing assay (<b>A</b>) and a transwell assay (<b>B</b>). For wound healing assay, representative images of GFP-positive cells at 48 h after wound scratching are shown (X200) and the results from three independent experiments are shown in the right as mean ± SD. For transwell assay, the migrated cells on the bottom surface of each well were fixed and stained and the representative images are shown (X100). The area of migrated cells per field was quantified and shown in the right as mean ± SD (n = 8). * and ** indicate p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively between the corresponding groups in “Control” <i>vs</i> “p53KD”. ? and ?? indicate p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively between the corresponding groups in “p53KD” <i>vs</i> “p53KD + ICAT”.