Fig. 5: β2 spectrin repressed the properties of liver CSCs in liver tumor-initiating cells (T-ICs).

The effect of β 2 spectrin on the properties of liver CSCs was evaluated by spheroid formation, colony formation, maltrigel invasion assay, chemo-resistant potential, and tumorigenicity in NOD/SCID mice. a qRT–PCR results showed that efficient β2SP expression in liver CSCs after β2SP cDNA transfection; b representative images of spheroid formation assay in liver CSCs transfected with the vector expressing β2 spectrin; c representative images of colony-formation assay in liver CSCs transfected with the vector expressing β2 spectrin; d representative images of Maltrigel invasion assay in liver CSCs transfected with the vector expressing β 2 spectrin; e CCK8 assay was used to compare cell viability between β2 spectrin- and control-transfected liver CSCs after treatment with 5-FU and DOX, respectively; f Representative images of xenograft tumors in NOD/SCID mice after the treatment. The tumor growth curves of each group of mice were summarized. The vectors expressing β2SP were administered directly into the tumor every 3 days for 5 times when the tumor approximately reached 5 mm diameter; arrow represented the time when the mice received first administration of the vector expressing β2 spectrin cDNA. All the data were means ± SEM of three independent experiments (**P < 0.01, *P < 0.05)