Fig. 2

Overexpressing ARHGEF37 enhances pulmonary metastatic capability of HCC cells in vivo. a Left: Representative bioluminescence images of pulmonary metastasis in mice after tail vein intravenous injection with vector and HCC cells stably overexpressing ARHGEF37. The color scale bar depicts the photon flux emitted from the mice and pulmonary metastasis (n = 6). Right: The statistical results of the luminescence signals for lung metastasis. b Representative images and quantitation of the metastatic nodules in the lungs. Scale bars: 50 μm. c Kaplan–Meier survival curve of mice from the indicated experimental groups (n = 6/group). d Left: Representative bioluminescence images of pulmonary metastasis in mice after tail vein intravenous injection with shV- and stable ARHGEF37-silenced HCC cells. The color scale bar depicts the photon flux emitted from the mice and pulmonary metastasis (n = 6). Right: The statistical results of the luminescence signals for lung metastasis. e Kaplan–Meier survival curve of mice from the indicated experimental groups (n = 6/group). f-g Representative images and quantitation of the metastatic nodules in the lungs. Scale bars: 50 μm. Each value in panel a, b, d, g represents the mean ± SD of six mice/group. ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001; ns represents not significant