Figure 1

δ-Catenin expression is important for viable prostate cancer cell growth. A. Establishment of stable CWR22Rv-1 cells overexpressing δ-catenin and its effects on epithelial cell morphology. CWR22Rv-1 cells, showing epithelial morphology (a) when transfected with pEGFP as vector control (b), display expression of E-cadherin at the cell-cell junction (c). δ-Catenin overexpressing CWR22Rv-1 cells (e) interfere with the epithelial monolayer (d) and disrupt E-cadherin expression at the cell-cell junction (f). Bar, 30 μm. Inserts: selective higher magnification images for (b), (c), (e) and (f), respectively. Bar, 25 μm. B. δ-Catenin overexpression promotes, while its knockdown suppresses prostate cancer CWR22Rv-1 cell growth. a. Western blot analysis shows that the increased expression of δ-catenin in cells transfected with δ-catenin cDNA and reduced expression of δ-catenin in cells transfected with δ-catenin shRNA. Anti-actin staining is used as a loading control, and the molecular weight markers (kDa) are on the left. b. δ-Catenin shRNA transfection reduces viable cell numbers while δ-catenin overexpression by δ-catenin cDNA transfection increases viable cell numbers. Vector 1 and 2: pRS-GFP and pEGFP, respectively. shRNA 1 and shRNA 2: shRNA against δ-catenin sequences 1 and 2, * P < 0.05. c and d. δ-Catenin overexpression promotes cancer cell growth in PC-3 (c) and NCI-H1299 (d) cells. Inserts: Western blots showing PC-3 (c) and NCI-H1299 (d) cells with (+) or without (-) stable δ-catenin overexpression. Anti-actin staining is used as a loading control, and the molecular weight markers (kDa) are on the left.