Fig. 2

Chronic stress promotes the carcinogenic potential of OSCC cells in vitro. a Effects of NE of different concentrations on the proliferation potential of HN6 and HSC4 cell lines were determined by CCK8 assay. b Rate of cell cycle was determined by flow cytometry. c Rate of apoptosis in both groups. d Cell invasion ability was determined using trans-well assays. Scale bars, 200 μm. e Cell migration ability was determined using wound-healing assays. Scale bars, 400 μm. f mRNA levels of tumor regulatory factor and EMT-related markers were determined by RT-qPCR of Con and NE groups. g Protein levels of EMT-related markers were determined by western blot (The blots were cropped and the full-length raw blots are provided in the supplementary). h Confocal laser scanning microscope images of immunofluorescent staining of E-cadherin and N-cadherin (EMT-related markers), blue for nuclear, green for cytoskeleton and red for protein. Scale bars, 25 μm. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3); *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001