Fig. 3

Inhibition of SGK3 attenuates liver CSC expansion. a, b Huh7-transfected SGK3 shRNA1 or MHCC97H-transfected SGK3 shRNA1 and their control cells were collected and subjected to real-time PCR. β-actin was used as a loading control. c Expression of Nanog, CD133, and SGK3 was detected by western blot in Huh7 shRNA1 or MHCC97H shRNA1 and their control cells. β-actin was used as a loading control. d Spheroid formation assay of SGK3 knockdown MHCC97H cells (MHCC97H-SGK3-shRNA1) or control cells (MHCC97H-SGK3-control) (up). Scale bars, 200 μm. The statistical results of the tumour spheroids (> 50 μm) were calculated based on 3 independent experiments (down). e The proportion of CD133+ cells in SGK3 knockdown MHCC97H cells or control cells was evaluated by flow cytometric assay. All experiments were performed in triplicate, and the results are shown as mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05