Fig. 3

AMPKα2 inhibits CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and induces apoptosis by inhibiting FTO. a: The mRNA expression of FTO in clinical CRC tissues and non-tumor tissues determined by RT-qPCR (n = 60 for patients in each group). b: The mRNA expression of FTO in CRC cells and HIEC cells determined by RT-qPCR. c: The protein expression of AMPKα2 and FTO in CRC cells transfected with oe-AMPKα2 measured by RT-qPCR and Western blot analysis. d: The protein expression of AMPKα2 and FTO in CRC cells co-transfected with oe-AMPKα2 and oe-NC/oe-FTO measured by RT-qPCR and Western blot analysis. e: Viability of CRC cells co-transfected with oe-AMPKα2 and oe-NC/oe-FTO assessed by CCK-8 method. f: Quantitative analysis for cell cycle distribution after co-transfection with oe-AMPKα2 and oe-NC/oe-FTO detected by flow cytometry. g: Quantitative analysis for apoptosis rate of CRC cells after co-transfection with oe-AMPKα2 and oe-NC/oe-FTO evaluated by flow cytometry. h: The expression of proliferation-, cell cycle- and apoptosis-related proteins in CRC cells co-transfected with oe-AMPKα2 and oe-NC/oe-FTO, as measured by Western blot analysis. i: The migratory ability of CRC cells co-transfected with oe-AMPKα2 and oe-NC/oe-FTO as detected by scratch test. j, The invasion ability of CRC cells co-transfected with oe-AMPKα2 and oe-NC/oe-FTO assessed by Transwell assay. ^*p < 0.05. Measurement data (mean ± standard deviation) between the two groups were analyzed by paired t test and those among multiple groups were compared by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc tests. Data among multiple groups at different time points were compared by repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc test. The cell experiment was independently repeated three times