StarD7 silencing leads to a reduction in Cx43, integrin β1, integrin α5, and p-FAK expression.

(A) Representative Western blots of Cx43 and α-tubulin from protein extracts of siC, siD7, shC, and shD7 cells. Bar graph represents the densitometric quantification of Cx43 protein levels in siD7 and shD7 cells normalized to α-tubulin of five independent experiments relative to the normalized protein levels in the corresponding controls (siC or shC). Statistical significance vs. the control defined as 1 was evaluated by one-sample t-test (Mean ± SEM, *p<0.01). (B) Representative microscopy of merged images demonstrating Cx43 expression (green) and nuclei labeled with Hoechst (blue) in siC- (top panel) and in siD7-treated cells (bottom panel). The boxed regions are enlarged in the right panels. Scale bar = 10 μm (630x). The bar graph represents Cx43 MFI in siC and siD7 cells relative to siC cells defined as 1 analyzed by Image J/Fiji software. (C) Representative Western blots of the indicated proteins from extracts of shC and shD7 cells. Bar graph represents the densitometric quantification of the integrin β1 and integrin α5 protein levels in shD7 cells normalized to α-tubulin relative to the normalized protein levels in the shC cells; and p-FAK/FAK ratio in shD7 cells relative to the corresponding ratio in shC cells of five independent experiments. Statistical significance vs. the control defined as 1 was evaluated by one-sample t-test (mean ± SEM, *p<0.01).