Figure 2. S100A8 and S100A9 promote cell proliferation, expression of EMT marker proteins, and cell invasion in primary keratinocytes. Human primary keratinocytes were treated with 1 μg of rS100A8, 1 μg of rS100A9, 0.5 μg of rS100A8 plus 0.5 μg of rS100A9, or 1 μg of rS100A8 plus 1 μg of rS100A9, heat-inactivated rS100A8/rS100A9 were applied as a negative control. After incubation for 48 h, (A) cell number, (B) expression levels of EMT marker proteins, (C) proportion of CD44+CD24- cells, and (D) cell invasion, were respectively detected with automatic cell counter, Western blotting, FACS, and Transwell migration assay. *P < 0.05 vs. control, #P < 0.05 vs 1 μg rS100A8, $P < 0.05 vs. 0.5 μg rS100A8 + 0.5 μg rS100A9.