Fig. 6

Tetrandrine inhibits HCC cell metastasis in vivo. a HE staining of metastatic tumors in the lung of WT HCCLM9 or ATG7-deficient HCCLM9 cell xenografts treated with vehicle (0.5% methylcellulose) or 30 mg·kg^− 1 tetrandrine as indicated by arrows. Magnification is 100X. b Incidence of lung metastasis in pulmonary metastasis model with WT and ATG7-deficient HCCLM9 cells. c Western blot analysis of protein lysis isolated from 30 mg·kg^− 1 tetrandrine or vehicle treated WT and ATG7-deficient HCCLM9 cell xenografts. d Incidence of lung metastasis in tail vein injection metastasis model with WT and ATG7-deficient HCCLM9 cells. *p < 0.05. e HE staining of metastatic nodules in the lung of WT HCCLM9 or ATG7-deficient HCCLM9 cells. Metastatic foci are indicated by arrows. Scale bars: 50 μm. f A putative model in which tetrandrine inhibits HCC metastasis by repression of multiple target genes