Fig. 2

GLUT4 expression is positively correlated with metastasis ability in HNSCC cells and complementary models showed that GLUT overexpression promotes HNSCC migration and invasion. a Western blot analysis of GLUT4 and tubulin protein expression in various HNSCC cells. Tubulin was used as an internal control for protein loading. b The correlation between the GLUT4 protein expression level and the migration and invasion abilities of various HNSCC cell lines. c The significance of the correlation was analyzed using the nonparametric Spearman method. d Giemsa staining for evaluating the migration and invasion abilities of a panel of various HNSCC cell lines. e Left panel: western blot analysis of GLUT4 and tubulin protein expression after GLUT4 overexpression in FaDu cells and HSC-3 cells. Right panel: the migration and invasion abilities of FaDu cells and HSC-3 cells after the overexpression of the exogenous GLUT4 gene. f Western blot analysis of GLUT4 knockdown in HSC-2 cells and HSC-3-M3 cells. Tubulin was used as an internal control for protein loading. Right panel: the migration and invasion abilities of HSC-2 and HSC-3-M3 after GLUT4 knockdown. NS represents the nonsilenced control