Fig. 6

EXT1 promotes HCC cell growth in vitro and in vivo. a Western blot analysis shows HLF, Bel-7402, and MHCC-LM3 cells stably overexpressed with EXT1, versus cells without transfection or transfected with control vector, respectively (upper panel). In lower panel, western blot analysis showed Huh-7 and Hep3-B cells stably knocked down with EXT1, versus cells without transfection or transfected with control vector, respectively. Three shRNA sequences were tested including shEXT1 1–5, 2–1, and 3–1 (Additional file). GAPDH protein level was used as an internal control. b CCK-8 assay was performed for the analysis of proliferation ability of the HCC cell lines stably overexpressed or knocked down with EXT1. Values represent the mean ± SEM of three independent transfection experiments (p < 0.05). c The indicated cells were subjected to In vivo subcutaneous tumor growth curves. 2~4 × 10⁶ tumor cells were injected subcutaneously into the flank of nude mice (n = 6). Mice were sacrificed when tumor volume grew into around 1000 mm³ and tumor samples were collected, measured, and photographed. HCC cell lines stably overexpressed with EXT1 showed enhanced tumor growth, whereas knockdown of EXT1 in vitro and in vivo both inhibited tumor growth