Fig. 3

MMP-9 and Elk1 mediated the degradation of occludin and E-cadherin after 20% cyclic stretch. A and C Representative Western blotting of Elk1 and MMP-9 in MLE-12 cells treated with si-Elk1 or si-MMP-9. B and D The density of the proteins at si-Nc was used as a standard. *P < 0.05, vs. the si-Nc group. E and I: Representative Western blotting of Elk1, MMP-9, E-cadherin, and occludin in MLE-12 cells treated with si-Elk1 or si-MMP-9 and 20% cyclic stretch for 4 h. F–L The density of the proteins at the CS(4 h) group was used as a standard. **P < 0.05, vs. the CS(4 h) group. M: Immunofluorescence was used to detected the distribution of occludin (green) and E-cadherin (red), and the nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue) in MLE-12 cells treated with si-Elk1 or si-MMP-9 and 20% cyclic stretch for 4 h. All experiments were repeated at three times