Fig. 3

HOXD-AS1 inhibition reduces EOC cell migration, invasion and EMT. a HOXD-AS1 was observed to be highly expressed in two EOC cell lines (A2780, SKOV3) compared with normal ovarian cell (IOSE80) using RT-qPCR and normalized to GAPDH as endogenous control. b Relative HOXD-AS1 expression in SKOV3 and A2780 cells transfected with siRNA against HOXD-AS1 (si-HOXD-AS1) or negative control (si-NC), measured using RT-qPCR and normalized against GAPDH. c, d 2D scratch wound assay showing significantly slower wound healing rate in EOC cells transfected with si-HOXD-AS1 than control cells. e, f Trans-well migration assay showing significantly reduced cell mobility through membrane with 8 um pore size in EOC cells transfected with si-HOXD-AS1 than control cells (imaged at × 200 magnification). g, h Trans-well Matrigel invasion assay showing significantly reduced ability to invade the membrane with 8 um pore size by EOC cells transfected with si-HOXD-AS1 compared to control cells. The images in (c, e and g) showed a representative experiment while the bar charts in (d, f andg) showed Mean ± SD of quantified data from at least three independent experiments respectively. ^★ denotes p < 0.05, ^★★denotes p < 0.01. i Western blot showing an increase in epithelial cell marker, E-cadherin and a reduction in mesenchymal cell marker, Vimentin, in EOC cells transfected with si-HOXD-AS1, compared to the control cells (quantitation graph refer to Additional file 3: Figure S2A/B)