Fig. 4

Circ0003998 promoted the EMT in HCC cells through the miR-143-3p-FOSL2 pathway. a Venn diagram showed the differentially expressed genes in HCC cells (HCC-OE cells/HCC-NC cells) and HCC tissues from patients with/without PVTT metastasis by RNA-sequencing, as well as the predicted target genes of miR-143-3p or PCBP1. b The qRT-PCR showed the mRNA level change of the predicated targets with miR-143-3p mimic or miR143-3p inhibitor in HCC cells. c The qRT-PCR showed the mRNA level change of the predicated targets after over expression or silencing of circ0003998. d Western blot showed protein levels of FOSL2 after over expression or silencing of circ0003998. e The miR-143-3p binding sites on circ0003998 were predicted by target Scan and miRanda. f-g Relative expression of FOSl2 was detected in circ0003998-OE HepG2 cells transfected with miR-143-3p mimics and circ0003998-silencing HepG2 cells transfected with miR-143-3p inhibitors. h ISH assay detected the expression of FOSL2 in HCC, PVTT, and ANL tissues from cohort 1. i Semi-quantitative H-SCORE was used to calculate the relative expression of FOSL2 in HCC, PVTT and ANL tissues by TMA-ISH assay. H-SCORE = ∑ (percentage of cells of weak intensity× 1) + (percentage of cells of moderate intensity× 2) + (percentage of cells of strong intensity× 3); Relative H-SCORE in PVTT tissues or HCC tissues = (H-SCORE in PVTT tissues or HCC tissues)/(H-SCORE in ANL tissues). j QRT-PCR detected the relative mRNA levels of FOSL2 in HCC, PVTT, and ANL tissues in cohort 1. k The correlation between the expression of circ0003998 and FOSL2 was analyzed in HCC tissues and PVTT tissues in cohort 1. Data were presented as means±SD; n = 3. Student’s t-test was used. The correlation was measured by Pearson correlation analysis. *p-value< 0.05, **p-value< 0.01, ***p-value< 0.001