Fig. 4: Constitutive TLR4 signaling enhances STAT3 activation and promotes tumor growth, angiogenesis and EMT in mice.
From: Activation of STAT3 is a key event in TLR4 signaling-mediated melanoma progression
a Representative immunoblots of total and phosphorylated STAT3 in A375NC and A375CA-TLR4 cells. b Transcriptional activity of STAT3 in A375NC and A375CA-TLR4 cells. c Morphological images of A375NC and A375CA-TLR4 cells. Cells expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) displayed green fluorescence. DAPI (blue) was used for nuclear staining. Scale bar: 50 μm. d Representative images (left panel) and weights (right panel) of A375NC and A375CA-TLR4 tumors (n = 7, two independent experiments). e Immunoblot analyses of total STAT3 and phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) in A375NC and A375CA-TLR4 tumors. Representative immunoblotting results are shown in the left panel. Protein levels of p-STAT3 and STAT3 in A375CA-TLR4 tumors relative to that in A375NC tumors (regarded as 1) are shown in the right panel. GAPDH was used as a loading control. In a, c–e, data are shown as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05 vs. A375NC group. f Representative IHC staining results of Ki-67, CD31, E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin in A375NC and A375CA-TLR4 tumors. Scale bar: 200 μm.
