MMP9 and pachyonychia congenita: We observed that with increasing concentrations of β-HIVS, more E-Cadherin and ZO-1 proteins were expressed, as determined by Western blot analysis, while markedly less N-Cadherin, MMP2, and MMP9 proteins were expressed simultaneously in PC cells (Figures 5A, B), suggesting that β-HIVS can effectively inhibit the EMT process in PC cells.