Fig. 3

LncHOXA10 played an essential role in liver TIC self-renewal. a LncHOXA10 depleted cells were generated with antisense oligo (ASO) and sphere formation assays were performed. LncHOXA10 depletion was confirmed by realtime PCR (left panels). Sphere photos were shown in middle panels and sphere-initiating ratios were shown in right panels. b 10, 1 × 10², 1 × 10³, 1 × 10⁴ and 1 × 10⁵ lncHOXA10 silenced cells and control cells were injected into BALB/c nude mice for 3-months’ tumor initiation. The ratios of tumor-free mice were shown in left panel and TIC ratios were calculated by extreme limiting dilution analysis (right panels). CI, confidence interval. c, d LncHOXA10 silenced cells were used for transwell invasion assay. At the indicated time points, invasive cells were visualized by crystal violet staining. Typical images (c) and invasive cell numbers (d) were shown. e LncHOXA10 overexpressing cells were established for sphere formation assays. Enhanced sphere formation capacity was observed in lncHOXA10 overexpressing cells. f Gradient numbers of lncHOXA10 overexpressing cells were used for 3-months’ tumor initiation and the ratios of tumor-free mice were shown. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 by one-tailed Student’s t test. Data are representative of four independent experiments