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Updated: May 26, 2026

The Soft Agar Colony Formation Assay
Published on: October 27, 2014
Suppression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell by targeting β-catenin signaling pathway
Yulan Song1, Qing Xu Yang, Fenfen Zhang
1Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital and Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Aim:
To investigate the role of β-catenin in pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
Methods:
Cellular proliferation, apoptosis, matrix penetration assay, and western blotting were employed to determine cell biological changes in NPC cell lines transfected with β-catenin siRNA. Immunohistochemistry staining was used to detect β-catenin and Ki-67 expression in NPC tissue.
Results:
β-Catenin was upregulated in NPC cell lines and tissues compared with chronic nasopharyngitis tissue. β-Catenin knockdown dramatically inhibited cellular growth, migration and invasion, but induced apoptosis of NPC cells. Further study showed that downstream genes of β-catenin signaling pathway including cyclin D1, c-Myc, MMP2 and MMP9 expression were suppressed in NPC cell lines transfected with β-catenin siRNA.
Conclusion:
Targeting β-catenin signaling pathway may be a noval strategy for NPC therapy.
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