Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 8 pp 12207—12223

Figure 3. EGFR induces cell proliferation, migration and invasion via miR-222-5p upregulation in HepG2 cells. (A) Representative immunohistochemistry micrographs showing EGFR expression in normal liver (n = 28), para-cancerous (n = 68) and HCC tissues (n = 68) (400 ×). (B) EGFR positive expression in normal liver (n = 28), para-cancerous (n = 68) and HCC tissues (n = 68) determined by immunohistochemistry. (C) EGFR mRNA expressions in human HCC cell lines detected by RT-qPCR normalized to β-actin. HepG2 cells were treated with oe-NC, oe-EGFR-1, oe-EGFR-2, oe-EGFR-3, DMSO or EGFR-inhibitor. (D) EGFR expression in HepG2 cells detected by RT-qPCR. (E) miR-222-5p expression in HepG2 cells detected by RT-qPCR normalized to U6. (F) Cell viability determined by MTT assay. (G, H) Cell migration determined by Transwell assay (200 ×). (I, J) Cell invasion determined by Transwell assay (200 ×). * p < 0.05 vs. normal liver cell, LO2 or HepG2 cells treated with oe-NC; # p < 0.05 vs. HepG2 treated with DMSO. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Data from multiple groups were compared by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc test. Data were compared between groups at different time points by repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test.