Fig. 7

Hakai promotes HCC growth in vitro and in vivo. a Representative images and quantification of invasion in GFP-tagged Hakai-overexpressing HepG2 cells by adenovirus. Scale bar = 200 μm. b, c Analysis of the ability of Hakai-overexpressing HepG2 cells by adenovirus to form colonies (b) and spheroids in three dimensional conditions (c). Scale bar = 100 μm (×20), 200 μm (×10). d HepG2 cells were overexpressed with GFP-Vector or GFP-Hakai by adenovirus for 24 h, and then cell were transfected with two siRNA duplexex targeted to β-Catenin (siβ-Catenin) or control siRNA (siControl). Cells were cultured in complete medium for 12 days during colony formation assays. e Quantification of colony forming ability of Hakai-depleted BEL7402 and HepG2 cells, or control cells. f Representative images and quantification of cell invasion of Hakai-depleted BEL7402 and HepG2 cells. Scale bar = 200 μm. g Tumor volumes in mice inoculated with Hakai-depleted and Hakai-overexpressing cells vs control mice, as measured weekly. Data are presented as Mean ± SEM from three independent experiments (**p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001)