Fig. 5: NNMT silencing enhances liver tumor growth and resistance to nutrient starvation in vitro and in vivo.

a–b SNU-449-shNNMT cells and Hep3B-NNMT OE cells were cultured under glucose starvation for the indicated times. Cell death was assessed with a trypan blue assay. The data shown are representative of three independent experiments. Each histogram bar represents the mean ± SD of three independent experiments (*p < 0.05). c–d SK-Hep-1-N.C. and SK-Hep-1-shNNMT cells (1 × 10⁷) were injected subcutaneously into mice. c Four weeks after the injection, the average tumor size was determined every week. The value represents the tumor volume mean ± SD (**p < 0.01). d A representative image of tumors obtained from the xenograft experiment. At 8 weeks after the injection, mice were sacrificed, and their tumors were weighed. Each tumor weight represents the mean ± SD (**p < 0.01). e Immunohistochemical staining of xenograft tumor tissues induced through injection of each cell group (n = 5); the tumor tissues were subjected to hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Ki-67, or TUNEL staining. Representative images of the staining at a magnification of 10×. Scale bars indicate 500 μm for N.C. and 1 mm for shNNMT cells, respectively. The histogram bar represents necrotic region % assessed via the TUNEL assay and analyzed using ImageJ software. Horizontal lines: group medians, Boxes: 25–75% quartiles. Vertical lines: range, maximum and minimum (*p < 0.05)