Fig. 2: SNCA modulates the epithelial phenotype in vitro.

HK-2 cells (VC, shSNCA or SNCA Ox) were incubated with serum-free medium or treated with TGF-β1 (2 ng/ml) for 72 h. a, f Cell lysates were immunoblotted with antibodies against E-cadherin, SNCA, vimentin, and α-SMA. The same samples were reprobed with antibodies against tubulin to ensure equal loading. Representative Western blots (a, f) and quantitative densitometric analysis (b–j) show expression of SNCA, E-cadherin, α-SMA, and vimentin in VC and shSNCA cells (a, b–e) or VC and SNCA Ox cells (f, g–j) treated with TGF-β1 for 72 h. Data are presented as mean ± SEM of at least n = 3 independent experiments. k F-actin staining for the detection of actin filaments in HK-2 cells. Cells were incubated with serum-free medium or treated with TGF-β1 (2 ng/ml) for 24 h. F-actin was labeled with Phalloidin Alexa Fluor 568 (red). Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst (blue). Scale bar represents 20 µm. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. The p-value by two-way ANOVA. VC—control vector; shSNCA—cells with SNCA downregulation; SNCA Ox—cells overexpressing SNCA. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.