Figure 6

XDH regulates CSC marker gene expression levels in HCC cells. (a, b) qRT–PCR analysis of CD44 and CD133 mRNA expression levels (a) and western blot analysis of CD44 and CD133 protein expression levels (b) in HepG2 cells transfected with control shRNAs (shCtrl) or shRNAs against XDH (shXDH). rel., relative. (c, d) qRT–PCR analysis of CD44 and CD133 mRNA expression levels (c) and western blot analysis of CD44 and CD133 protein expression levels (d) in HepG2 cells in the presence of 50 μM oxypurinol for 48 h. (e, f) qRT–PCR analysis of CD44 and CD133 mRNA expression levels (e) and western blot analysis of CD44 and CD133 protein expression levels (f) in Huh7 cells treated with 50 μM oxypurinol or solvent (vehicle) only for 48 h. (g, h) qRT–PCR analysis of CD44 and CD133 mRNA expression levels (g) and western blot analysis of CD44 and CD133 protein levels (h) in MHCC97H cells transfected with control and XDH-overexpressing plasmids. The band intensities were quantified using ImageJ software. Unpaired t-tests were performed to assess statistical significance. All data are expressed as the mean±s.e.m. of three experiments. XDH, xanthine dehydrogenase; CSC, cancer stem cell; mRNA, messenger RNA; shRNA, small-hairpin RNA; qRT–PCR, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. ns, not significant, *P<0.05.