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Fig. 10 | Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Fig. 10

From: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes directly induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human bronchial epithelial cells via the TGF-β-mediated Akt/GSK-3β/SNAIL-1 signalling pathway

Fig. 10

MWCNTg promote the EMT through the TGF-β-mediated Akt/GSK-3β/SNAIL-1 pathway. Normally, GSK-3β-mediated phosphorylation of nuclear SNAIL-1 mediates its subsequent degradation (a). MWCNTg stimulate in BEAS-2B cells TGF-β secretion, Akt activation and GSK-3β inhibition, which induces nuclear SNAIL-1 and its transcriptional activity. Contemporarily, GSK-3β inactivation stabilizes cytoplasmic β-catenin, which translocates to the nucleus contributing to keep “turned on” the EMT program (b)

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