Fig. 6

Down-regulating KPNA2 leads to decreased growth of HCC cells. Hep3B cells were transfected with non-targeting control oligo or with siRNA specifically targeting KPNA2 using lipofectamine 2000. a KPNA2 mRNA level was measured with qRT-PCR. b Western blot was used to assay the protein level of KPNA2. c Cell viability was measured using the MTT assay. d Cell apoptosis was measured with the Annxin V-FITC/Hoechst 33258 double staining flow cytometry. The cells were incubated for 72 h after transfection of the oligos. e colonogenic, (f) migratory and (g) invading capacities of cells were assayed as described above. h The protein levels of E-cadherin and Vimentin were measured using western blot. i The OS of HCC patients with low or high KPNA2 level was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and the curves were compared with the Log-rank test. The Q1–4 represent the 25% quantile of KPNA2 expression. Q1 represents the lowest 25%, Q2 represents 25–50%, Q3 is the 50–75% and Q4 is the 75–100%. All experiments were repeated 3 times. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01