Fig. 4

Ectopic expression of RASAL2 promotes CRC tumorigenesis. a Ectopic stable expression of RASAL2 protein in SW480 confirmed by western blot. b-d Ectopic expression of RASAL2 significantly enhanced cell viability b, anchorage-dependent growth (c) as well as cell invasion and migration (d) by MTT, colony formation and transwell cell invasion and migration assays in SW480 cells stably overexpressing RASAL2. e Representative image of tumors in xenograft mouse model (Left: pLPCX; Right: pLPCX-RASAL2) and that of tumor formed in nude mice inoculated subcutaneously with RASAL2 plasmids or empty vectors (Upper panel); The tumor growth curve of SW480 stably transduced with RASAL2 in nude mice was significantly dampened compared with SW480 transduced control (Middle panel); The mean tumor weights in the pLPCX-RASAL2 and pLPCX vector groups were summarized in histogram (Lower panel). f IHC assay of RASAL2 and Ki-67 in xenograft tumor tissues. (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01, Student’s t-test, n = 3 independent experiments)