Fig. 4

FOXM1 and KIF4A promote HCC cell proliferation. a, b FOXM1 overexpression increases the proliferation rate of HepG2 cells (a) whereas FOXM1 knockdown with specific shRNA decreases the proliferation rate of Huh7 cells (b), as shown by EdU staining. c, d KIF4A overexpression increases the proliferation rate of HepG2 cells (c) whereas KIF4A knockdown (sh-KIF4A) decreases the proliferation rate of Huh7 cells (d), as shown by EdU staining. e, f FOXM1 or KIF4A overexpression increases colony formation by HepG2 cells (e) whereas their knockdown decreases colony formation by Huh7 cells (f). g, h FOXM1 or KIF4A overexpression increases the cell growth rate of HepG2 cells (g) whereas their knockdown decreases (h) the cell growth rate of Huh7 cells, as indicated by fold change relative to the initial time point. i, j Increased the viability of HepG2 cells upon FOXM1 or KIF4A overexpression and decreased the viability of Huh7 cells upon FOXM1 or KIF4A knockdown, as determined with CCK-8. k Cell cycle profile of FOXM1-knockdown Hep3B cells determined by flow cytometry analysis with propidium iodide (PI) staining (left); the proportion of cells in each phase of the cell cycle was quantified concerning the total number of cells (right). l Flow cytometry analysis was used to determine the effect of KIF4A knockdown on cell cycle distribution (left) in Huh7 cells; the fraction of cells in each phase (middle) and the number of multinucleate cells (right) are shown as a histogram. Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01