FIGURE 1:

(A) Control and MAP4K4-depleted MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells were analyzed in Boyden chamber transwell matrigel invasion assay. TNFα stimulation (25 ng/ml) significantly increases matrigel invasiveness of MDA-MB231 cells. If the potential proto-oncogenic ser/thr kinase MAP4K4 is depleted, invasive cell motility is largely blocked both under unstimulated as well as under TNFα stimulated conditions.

(B) The downstream effector proteins of the ERM family are activated (phosphorylated) in response to TNFα stimulation (25 ng/ml) in MDA-MB231. Depletion of MAP4K4 blunts their activation.

(C) Schematic overview of the proposed mechanistic linkage between TNFα stimulation and invasive cell motility. ECM: extracellular matrix.