Fig. 3

The PI3K/AKT pathway mediated the chemotactic and pro-growth effects of IGF-1 on c-kit-positive CSCs. a CSCs treated with PBS or 100 ng/ml insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) for 72 h, treated with 50 μM LY294002, or pretreated with 50 μM LY294002 for 30 min and then stimulated with 100 ng/ml IGF-1 for 72 h. Western blots show that IGF-1 upregulates the expression of the p-AKT and c-kit proteins compared with the control (CON) group (P < 0.05), and this effect is blocked by LY294002 (P < 0.05). The LY294002 group exhibited reduced p-AKT and c-kit expression (P < 0.05). q-PCR analysis of c-kit expression. The data were obtained from three independent experiments and are expressed as the mean ± SD; n = 3. *P < 0.05, between groups indicated. b Representative images of migrated CPCs at 48 h (stained with crystal violet) are shown (×100 magnification). The data were obtained from three independent experiments and are expressed as the means ± SD; n = 3. *P < 0.05, between groups indicated. c A CCK-8 assay was used to analyze cell proliferation. The data were obtained from at least three independent experiments and are expressed as the means ± SD. *P < 0.05, between groups indicated