**parental cells

**parental cells. (b) Morphological changes of HCC827 GR and PC9 GR cells. Original magnification, 400. (c) Western blot analysis of EMT-associated proteins. Bar graphs are derived from densitometric scanning of the blots. Error bars are meanS.D. from three independent experiments. **parental cells. (d) Migratory and invasive abilities of HCC827 GR, PC9 GR cells, and their ALK6 parental cells were determined by Transwell assays. Error bars are meanS.D. from four independent experiments. **parental cells. Original magnification, 400. (e) Western blot analysis of Cx26 protein expression in HCC827 GR, PC9 GR cells, and their parental cells. Bar graphs are derived from densitometric scanning of the blots. Error bars are meanS.D. from four independent experiments. **parental cells Moreover, HCC827 GR and PC9 GR cells exhibited scattered, elongated, and mesenchymal-like morphology, while their parental HCC827 and PC9 cells showed rounded shape, typical of epithelial cobblestone appearance (Figure LY223982 2b). Consistently, the expression of epithelial marker E-cadherin was greatly reduced, whereas the level of mesenchymal marker vimentin and slug was significantly elevated in HCC827 GR and PC9 GR cells (Figure 2c). A key feature of cancer cells undergoing EMT is enhanced migratory and invasive potential. As shown in Figure 2d, mobility and invasive capability of HCC827 GR and PC9 GR cells were significantly increased by 2.6- or 3.0-fold and 2.0- or 2.4-fold compared with their parental cells, respectively. Moreover, the levels of Cx26 were increased in HCC827 GR and PC9 GR cells (Figure 2e). These results suggest a potential role of Cx26 in the acquisition of EMT and acquired gefitinib resistance of NSCLC cells. LY223982 Cx26 induces acquired gefitinib resistance in NSCLC cells via GJIC-independent manner Cxs have long been believed to regulate tumor development during carcinogenesis by exerting GJIC. Therefore, we next examined whether GJIC was involved in Cx26-induced EMT and acquired gefitinib resistance of NSCLC cells. First, GJIC in primarily human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) as positive control was confirmed, and treatment of these cells with RA (a well-defined GJIC enhancer) significantly enhanced GJIC among these cells. As shown in Figure 3a, no detectable GJIC was found in HCC827, PC9, and their GR cells. To exclude the involvement of undetectable GJIC in these cells, GJIC was further measured in the presence of 10, 20, and 40?in the regulation of EMT and acquired gefitinib resistance in NSCLC, we engineered GJIC-deficient HCC827 and PC9 cells stably expressing chimeric Cx26 with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to the amino-terminal (Figure 4a). Characterization of this chimeric protein LY223982 revealed that Cx26 accumulated in the cytoplasm and failed to establish functional GJIC (Figure 4b). After incubation with RA, Cx26 was still retained in the cytoplasm with no detectable GJIC (Figure 4c). Despite lack of GJIC, overexpression of Cx26 was sufficient to induce elongated mesenchymal-like morphology transition (Figure 4d), consistent with decreased expression of E-cadherin while increased expression of vimentin and slug (Figure 4e), and enhanced migratory and invasive potential of HCC827 and PC9 cells (Figure 4f). Furthermore, Cx26 overexpression exerted obvious gefitinib insensitivity in these cells (Figure 4g). Besides, the data showed that administration of gefitinib (100?mg/kg per day, gavaged orally) led to more significant inhibition of LY223982 HCC827-mock tumor xenografts than HCC827-Cx26 xenografts, compared with vehicle groups (Figure 4h). These results reinforce the GJIC-independent role of Cx26 in the promotion of EMT and gefitinib resistance in NSCLC. Open in a separate window Figure 4 Overexpression of Cx26 induces LY223982 EMT and gefitinib resistance in HCC827 and PC9 cells via GJIC-independent manner. (a) Western blotting showed the successful lentiviral infections of GJIC-deficient chimeric Cx26. (b and c) Parachute assay and immunofluorescence staining of Cx26-overexpressing HCC827 and PC9 cells.