Fig. 2

piR-36,712 suppresses malignant phenotypes of breast cancer cells. a, b Effect of piR-36,712 expression on MCF7 and ZR75–1 cell proliferation tested by CCK8 assay (mean ± SEM; *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01 and ***, P < 0.001). c, d The fluorescent thymidine analog EdU was used to identify proliferative cells by labeling their DNA (green signal). Nuclei labeled with hoechst are in blue. Representative images (left) and quantitative statistics by flow cytometry (right) (mean ± SEM, n = 3; NS, **, P < 0.01 and ***, P < 0.001). e Effect of piR-36,712 expression on colony formation ability of breast cancer cells. Results present colony formation ability relative to control (mean ± SEM; **, P < 0.01 and ***, P < 0.001). f Effect of piR-36,712 overexpression or knockdown on MCF7 and ZR75–1 cell cycle progression. g, h Effects of piR-36,712 on the abilities of MCF7 and ZR75–1 cell migration and invasion (means ± SEM; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001). i, j Effects of piR-36,712 expression on the growth of MCF7 and ZR75–1 xenografts in mice (mean ± SEM, N = 5 in each group; **, P < 0.01 and ***, P < 0.001). k, l Effects of piR-36,712 expression on MCF7 cell metastasis in mice. Luminescence imaging of metastases (k) and quantification of radiance intensity (l). Data are mean ± SEM, N = 10 in each group; ***, P < 0.001