Figure 3: The effect of hypoxia on NICD and integrin β1 expression.

HaCaT cells were incubated in a normal or hypoxia chamber for 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, or 48 h. (A,B) Western blot analysis showed that as exposure to hypoxia continued, NICD expression decreased, while integrin β1 expression increased. The image shown is representative of three independent experiments. (C,D) Quantitative analysis of NICD and integrin β1 expression levels under normoxic conditions or after exposure to hypoxia for the indicated times. Values represent the means ± S.D. of three independent experiments. N, normoxia; *P < 0.05 versus the N group. (E) Immunofluorescence staining for NICD (green) in HaCaT cells exposed to normoxia or treated with hypoxia for the indicated times. Nuclei were stained using DAPI (blue). Scale bar = 20 μm. (F) A graph is shown to illustrate changes in NICD expression levels under normoxic conditions and in cells exposed to hypoxia for the indicated times. The corresponding Integral optical density (IOD) for NICD (green) values was normalized to that of DAPI (blue). Values represent the means ± S.D. of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05 versus the Normoxia group.