Figure 5. Effect of XAV939 on nuclear β-catenin levels in the HLE-B3 cells. To further establish the association between nuclear β-catenin, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker proteins, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels, we used the pharmacological inhibitor, XAV939, to decrease the nuclear levels of β-catenin. HLE-B3 cells were cultured in 100 mm² culture dishes and incubated with 1 µm XAV939 for 3 h in hypoxia. At the end of 3 h, cytoplasmic and nuclear extracts were collected and analyzed with western blot. The experiment was repeated twice with independent cell populations and was quantified using ImageJ analysis. The asterisk (*) signifies there was a significant decrease in nuclear β-catenin in the XAV939-treated cells compared with the controls (p<0.05). There was no significant change in the cytoplasmic level of β-catenin with XAV939 relative to controls.