Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 16 pp 6273—6285
Elevated kindlin-2 promotes tumour progression and angiogenesis through the mTOR/VEGFA pathway in melanoma
Figure 6. Kindlin-2 promotes angiogenesis and tumour progression via the mTOR pathway. (A) The protein levels of kindlin-2, p-Smad2/3, Smad2/3, p-mTOR and mTOR were detected in SK28-shNC, SK28-sh-kindlin-2, A375-Vector and A375-kindlin-2 cells by western blotting. (B) Migration, invasion and tube formation assays were performed in A375-Vector and A375-kindlin-2 cells after incubation with rapamycin. (C) Western blotting was used to detect the levels of kindlin-2, p-mTOR, mTOR and VEGFA in A375-Vector and A375-kindlin-2 cells after incubation with rapamycin. (D) ELISA was used to detect the secretion of VEGFA in the indicated cells. (E) A schematic model of kindlin-2-induced melanoma progression. *p<0.05, **p<0.01.