Fig. 4

STAT3 is involved in mediating the gemcitabine/low-dose VPA-induced migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. a PANC-1 and Patu8988 cells were cotreated with 5 μm of gemcitabine for 24 h and various doses of VPA for 36 h, and the expression levels of p-STAT3 and STAT3 were detected by western blot analysis. Two pancreatic cancer cells were pretreated with 100 μm of S3I-201 for 4 h and then treated with 0.5 mM of VPA for 12 h; followed by cotreatment with gemcitabine for 24 h. b The changes in Bmi1, p-STAT3, and STAT3 were measured by western blot analysis. c, d The migration and invasion were detected by Transwell assays after the above treatment. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 compared with the control