Supplementary Figure 6: PXN modulates MCL1 and BIM expression, and promotes HCC tumorigenesis.

(a) PXN protein levels in SMMC-7721 cells stably overexpressing PXN. (b) Western blot analysis of MCL1 and BIM protein levels in SMMC-7721 cells stably overexpressing PXN. (c–f) Western blot analysis of MCL1 and BIM protein levels in SMMC-7721 (c) or QSG-7701(d) cells stably overexpressing MBNL3, SMMC-7721 (e) or Huh7 (f) cells stably silencing MBNL3. (g) Cell proliferations were measured using CCK-8 assays in SMMC-7721 cells stably overexpressing PXN. (h) Cell proliferations were assessed using EdU immunofluorescence staining in SMMC-7721 cells stably overexpressing PXN. Scale bars, 100 μm. (i) Colony formation assays of SMMC-7721 cells stably overexpressing PXN. Scale bars, 5 mm. (j) Cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining in SMMC-7721 cells stably overexpressing PXN. Scale bars, 100 μm. For g,j, data are mean ± s.d. of n = 3 independent experiments ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01 by Student’s t-test. (k) Western blot analysis of apoptosis markers in SMMC-7721 cells stably overexpressing PXN. (l,n) Effects of PXN overexpression in SMMC-7721 cells on subcutaneous tumor growth. Tumor volumes were measured every 7 days (l). The mice were killed 21 days after injection, and the tumors were excised and weighed (m,n). Scale bars, 1 cm. Data are mean ± s.d. of n = 10 mice in each group, ^∗∗P < 0.01 by Mann–Whitney test. Source data are available in Supplementary Table 8. Uncropped images of blots are shown in Supplementary Fig. 9.