Fig. 5

CTHRC1 exerts oncogenic functions by activating the MAPK/MEK/ERK pathway in ESCC cells. a Top-ranked KEGG pathway terms using DAVID. b Western blot was conducted to detect the protein levels of CTHRC1, c-raf, MEK1/2, ERK1/2 and phosphorylation of c-raf, MEK1/2, ERK1/2 in CTHRC1-knockdown KYSE510 and KYSE30 cells and corresponding vector control cells. c Western blot was conducted to detect the protein levels of CTHRC1, c-raf, MEK1/2, ERK1/2 and phosphorylation of c-raf, MEK1/2, ERK1/2 in CTHRC1-overexpressing KYSE450 cells and vector control cells. d-f KYSE450 with enhanced CTHRC1 expression and vector control cells were treated with the MEK inhibitor U0126 (10 μM) or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). d Cell viability was measured using the CCK8 assay. e Colony formation assays were performed to measure the clonogenic capacity of cells. f Migration and invasion of cells were investigated using transwell assays. The results are shown as the mean ± SD. The difference between groups was analysed using two-tailed Student’s t-test. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01