Fig. 7

The impact of DNMT1 expression on mtDNA-depleted ESCC cells. A Depletion of mtDNA in TE11 cells by DNMT1 knockdown. *The densitometry of relative protein expression. B The mRNA expression levels of DNMT1 in control cells and mtDNA-depleted cells were significantly lower after DNMT1 knockdown, and the DNMT3A and DNMT3B mRNA expression levels were not different in DNMT1 knockdown cells. C The overall DNA methylation level was reduced by approximately 7–8% by DNM1 knockdown. D DNMT1 knockdown in mtDNA-depleted ESCC cells significantly increased E-cadherin mRNA expression compared to that in cells without DNMT1 knockdown. In addition, the mRNA expression levels of N-cadherin and vimentin were significantly lower in DNMT1 knockdown cells than in control cells. E mtDNA-depleted ESCC cells with DNMT1 knockdown had increased sensitivity to CDDP compared with cells without DNMT1 knockdown