Fig. 2

Knockdown of TRAIL inhibits ESCC cell migration, invasion, and proliferation in vitro. a TRAIL is differentially expressed in different ESCC samples as evidenced by RT-qPCR and western blotting. b, c The TRAIL knockdown effects in KYSE70 and KYSE150 cells were confirmed by RT-qPCR and flow cytometry. GAPDH was used as an internal loading control. d The effect of TRAIL on sphere formation of KYSE70 (top) and KYSE150 (bottom) cells. Representative images and quantitative analysis are shown in the left and right panels, respectively. e Transwell assay of TRAIL knockdown and control KYSE70 and KYSE150 cells. Representative images and quantitative analysis are shown in the left and right panels, respectively. f Cell proliferation determined by the CCK-8 assay with/without TRAIL knockdown in KYSE70 (top) or KYSE150 (bottom) cells. g, h Gene and protein expression of cell stemness markers in KYSE70 (top) or KYSE150 (bottom) cells. NC, negative control. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM. ****P< 0.0001, ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05 (unpaired t-test)