Fig. 3

Promotion of colon cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion after transfection in vitro. a-b, Western blot. HCT116 and HT-29 cells were grown and transiently transfected with plasmids carrying PCSK9 cDNA or vector only, and then subjected to Western blot analysis of PCSK9 expression at 48 hs or day 4 after transfaction. The graph is quantified data of Western blots (n = 3). c, Cell viability assay. HCT116 and HT-29 cells were grown and transiently transfected with plasmids carrying PCSK9 cDNA or vector only, and then subjected to CCK8 assay. The data showed that PCSK9 overexpression enhanced proliferation of HCT116 and HT-29 cells. d–f, Wound-healing assay. HCT116 and HT-29 cells were grown and transiently transfected with plasmids carrying PCSK9 cDNA or vector only, and then subjected to the assay. The data showed that PCSK9 overexpression induced wound-healing rates of HCT116 and HT-29 cells. Magnification, × 40. The graph is quantified data. g and h, Transwell assay. HCT116 and HT-29 cells were grown and transiently transfected with plasmids carrying PCSK9 cDNA or vector only, and then subjected to Transwell assays. The graphs are quantified data. The data revealed that enforced PCSK9 expression promoted tumor cell migration (g) and invasion capacities (h) of HCT116 and HT-29 cells. Magnification, × 200. Con, control cells without transfection; NC, negative control cells transfected with plasmids carrying vector; OE, overexpression of PCSK9 cells transfected with plasmids carrying PCSK9 cDNA. ns, no significance; hs, hours; ds, days. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001