Fig. 1: Hornerin had the capability to interact with circIPP2A2.

a catRAPID results showed the top five circRNAs that interacting with Hornerin. Ranking based on Interaction Propensity. b RIP assay using anti-Hornerin antibody in normal liver cells HL-7702 and HCC cells HCCLM3. The binding affinity was assessed using qPCR. c, d Small interfering RNAs targeted at Hornerin were used to downregulate Hornerin expression. qPCR and western blotting assay were used to verify the successful downregulation. e qPCR was used to detect the expression of circIPP2A2 in HL-7702 and HCCLM3. f qPCR was employed for the verification of circIPP2A2 silencing. g, h qPCR and western blotting assay were used to measure the expression of Hornerin in circIPP2A2 downregulated cells. i RNA pull-down was performed using Biotinylation labeled circIPP2A2 back splice sequence. Western blotting assay was used to detect the Hornerin signal in HL-7702 and HCCLM3. j Schematic diagram of circIPP2A2 primers design. k RIP assay was used to unveil the putative sequences with which Hornerin interacted. l RNA pull-down using a specific circIPP2A2 probe was employed to validate the RIP result. ns, not significant; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.