Transmembrane protein 176B promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer through inflammasome inhibition

Figure 4 Short hairpin RNA targeting transmembrane protein 176B inhibits the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of colon cancer via the NLRP3 signaling pathway in mice. A: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in colon tumor tissues of mice. n = 3 in each group; B and C: Western blot analysis was used to measure the expression of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, IL-18, TMEM176B, p-p65, p65, MMP-9, TGF-β, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, Vimentin in colon tumor tissues of mice. n = 3 in each group. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01. sh-TMEM176B: Short hairpin RNA targeting transmembrane protein 176B; sh-NC: Short hairpin RNA interference-negative control; EMT: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition; ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; IL-18: Interleukin-18; TGF-β: Transforming growth factor-beta.