Fig. 8: Knockdown of AMIGO2 hinders HNSCC evolution.

a Western blot analysis showing downregulation of PAICS and HPRT1 proteins in shAMIGO2-treated HNSCC cells. b Western blot analysis showing alteration of EMT pathway proteins in shAMIGO2-treated HNSCC cells. c shAMIGO2 significantly inhibits cell migration and invasion in HNSCC cells. d Schematic diagram of the fibroblast co-culture model in vitro (left), Western blot analysis showing decreased expression of FAP, α-SMA, and Vimentin proteins in the shAmigo2 group (right). e Schematic illustration of establishing orthotopic tongue tumors by injecting MOC-1 cells. f Representative H&E-stained sections of orthotopic tongue tumors established by injecting MOC-1 cells into C57BL/6 mice. g Representative images of orthotopic tumors formed in the tongues of C57BL/6 mice following MOC-1 cell injection. Treatment groups included Vehicle, Anti-PD-1, shAmigo2, and shAmigo2+Anti-PD-1 combination. h Tumor growth curves of orthotopic tongue tumors with treatments initiated around day 3 post-implantation. i Flow cytometry analysis of NK cell infiltration, total CD8 + T cell proportion, PD-1 + CD8 + T cells, Tim3 + CD8 + T cells, GZMB + CD8 + T cells, and IFNγ + CD8 + T cells in tumors from the different treatment groups with representative images. *P < 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001.