Fig. 2
POSTN gene is correlated with the stemness transformation of liver cancer cells. a-d Viability (a), clone formation (b), invasion (c) and sphere formation (d) abilities were measured in POSTNLow Hep3B and SNU387 cells transfected with POSTN plasmid or POSTNHigh HCCLM3 and PLC/PRF5 cells transfected with lentiviral mediated shRNA targeting POSTN. e Representative photograph of the xenograft of Hep3B cells transfected with control and p-POSTN plasmid or HCCLM3 cells transfected with lentiviral packaged shRNA targeting POS TN with matched scrRNA(Left panel). Comparison of tumor growth between xenograft groups with different POSTN-expressing liver cancer cells.(Right panel). f Luciferase signal intensities of the mice in each group after intrahepatic injection at the indicated time points (left panel). Bar graph indicated the quantitative results of luciferase signal intensities at the indicated time points. g Lung metastasis were found in POSTNHigh HCC orthotopic xenograft (Right panel). h Immunofluorescence dual staining was used to verify the expression of POSTN (Green) and CD133 (Red) proteins in the process of sphere formation. Scale bar, 10 μm. Data were represented as mean + SEM from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001