Journal: Oncotarget
Article Title: Matrix stiffness-mediated effects on stemness characteristics occurring in HCC cells
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.8515
Figure Lengend Snippet: A. Increasing matrix stiffness upregulates the phosphorylation levels of Akt and mTOR, as well as the expressions of mTOR downstream molecules p-4E-BP and SOX2 in two HCC cells. B. Integrin β1 knockdown suppresses the phosphorylation level of Akt and mTOR, attenuates p-4E-BP and SOX2 expression in two HCC cells, while rapamycin, an mTOR-inhibitor, not only results in an obvious decrease of mTOR phosphorylation level and its downstream molecules expression, but also produces a slight increase in AKT phosphorylation level.
Article Snippet: Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the human integrin β1 gene were designed by the Shanghai GeneChem, Co., Ltd., China.
Techniques: Expressing