Fig. 4

miR-589-5p inhibits the stemness of HCC CSCs through MAP3K8. (a) CD90⁺ MHCC97H and MHCC97L cells were transfected with MAP3K8 siRNA, and the mRNA and protein levels of MAP3K8 both decreased. (b) Expression of the pluripotency-associated genes Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog in CD90⁺ MHCC97H and MHCC97L cells was measured by qRT-PCR (upper two panels) and Western blot (lower panel) after transfection of MAP3K8 siRNA or negative control RNA. (c) Sphere formation and clone formation by CD90⁺ MHCC97H and MHCC97L cells transfected with MAP3K8 siRNA or negative control RNA. (d) Migration and invasion of CD90⁺ MHCC97H and MHCC97L cells transfected with MAP3K8 siRNA or negative control RNA. All data are representative of three independent experiments and are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 3)