Fig. 9

circCGNL1 represses PC tumor growth in vivo. A Representative images of subcutaneous xenograft tumors (n = 5/group), showing that circCGNL1 suppressed the tumorigenesis of PANC-1 cells in vivo. B, C Analysis of tumor volumes and weights revealed decreased tumor growth after ectopic expression of circCGNL1 in PANC-1 cells. D Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and IHC staining of xenograft tumors. Protein expression levels of Ki67, PCNA, and cleaved caspase-3 were analyzed using IHC staining. The samples were imaged at 100 × magnification (Scale bar = 100 μm). E qRT-PCR was performed to detect circCGNL1 expression in tumor tissues from the negative control and pcDNA3.1-circCGNL1 treatment groups. F Protein levels of HDAC4, p-HDAC4 (S632), RUNX2, and GAMT were analyzed in circCGNL1-overexpressing and control tumor tissues using WB assays. G, H Relative circCGNL1-expression levels in PC tissues (tumor) and adjacent non-tumor tissues (paratumor) via RT-qPCR (n = 86). The samples were collected from The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were detected. I Kaplan–Meier survival curves revealing the OS of PC patients with low versus high circCGNL1 expression. The median expression level of circCGNL1 was set as the cut-off value. J Schematic illustration indicates the mechanism of circCGNL1 in regulating PC growth via NUDT4–HDAC4–RUNX2–GAMT-mediated apoptosis. ns: no significance, **p < 0.01