Fig. 2

Effects of circNTRK2 on cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis in ESCC. (a) Expression of circNTRK2 in Eca-109 and KYSE-150 cells transfected with si-RNAs (si-circNTRK2 #1, si-circNTRK2 #2, or si-circNTRK2 #3) and in EC-9706 cells transfected with circNTRK2-overexpression vector was tested by qRT-PCR. (b-d) Effects of circNTRK2 knockdown or overexpression on cell proliferation were monitored via CCK-8 (b), EdU (c), and colony formation (d) assays. (e) The invasive ability was assessed by transwell assay in circNTRK2-silencing Eca-109 and KYSE-150 cells and in circNTRK2-overexpression EC-9706 cells. (f) Western blot assay was performed to evaluate the effects of circNTRK2 depletion or up-regulation on the expression EMT-related proteins including E-cadherin and vimentin. (g) The apoptotic rate was detected through flow cytometry in Eca-109 and KYSE-150 cells transfected with si-circNTRK2 #2 and in EC-9706 cells transfected with circNTRK2. (h) Effects of circNTRK2 silencing or overexpression on the levels of apoptosis-related proteins (cleaved PARP and cleaved caspase-3) were measured via western blot assay. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01