Karyopherin-α3 (KPNA3) triggers epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) via transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and serine/threonine kinase (AKT) signaling pathways. (A) BioPlanet 2019-based enrichment analysis of KPNA3-KD-induced transcriptional signatures (absolute fold change > 2, P < 0.05). The P-values were computed using Fisher’s exact test and converted to −log10. (B) Expression levels of total SMAD2/3 and phosphorylated SMAD2 (S465/467)/SMAD3 (S423/425), total AKT, phosphorylated AKT (T308/S473), total ERK, and phosphorylated ERK (T202/Y204) proteins in KPNA3-KD-231 cells for 48 h. (C) Expression levels of CTGF and PTHRP mRNAs in KPNA3-KD-231 cells. (D) Expression levels of E-cadherin, HAS2, GATA3, total AKT, and phosphorylated AKT (T308) proteins in MDA-MB-231 cells with DMSO or LY294002 treatment (10 μM) for 24 h. (E) Expression levels of E-cadherin, HAS2, GATA3, phosphorylated SMAD2/3, total AKT, phosphorylated AKT (T308/S473), total ERK, phosphorylated ERK (T202/Y204), and KPNA3 proteins in KPNA3-KD-231 cells treated with or without TGF-β (5 ng/ml) for 24 h. (F) Cell images of migrated or invaded cells under the same conditions as those in (E) (left panel). The number of migrated or invaded cells (right panel).
