Fig. 1

High expression of ARHGEF39 (A39) promotes NSCLC proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and in vivo. a In six of seven NSCLC cell lines, the protein level of A39 was higher than that in HBE cells. b Representative images of immunofluorescent staining results for A39 in HBE, A549, and H460 cells. c Stable upregulation of A39 expression in the transfected A549 cell line was confirmed by western blotting. d–f Cell proliferation was significantly increased after A39 overexpression, as assessed by MTT and colony formation assays. g–h Cell-cycle analysis showing that A39 overexpression caused an S phase arrest. i–k The tumor size and weight of xenografts were measured at the indicated time points; in vivo tumor growth in the pCMV6-A39 group was significantly increased compared with that in the pCMV6-Vector group. l–m Wound healing migration assays and the quantification of the distance of the open area are shown. n–o The invasion of A549 cells was measured using transwell Matrigel invasion assays. Data are shown as the mean ±SD from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; scale bar = 50 μm