Fig. 3

Cell invasion, senescence, apoptosis and angiogenesis in HCC cell lines. a E-cadherin mRNA expression increased, whereas vimentin, N-cadherin and snail mRNA expression was not significantly affected by K19 knockdown in HepG2 cells. b The expression of angiogenesis -related genes VASH1 and FGFR1 decreased and that of VASH2 increased following K19 -knockdown in HepG2 cells. c Matrigel invasion assay showing inhibition of invasion capacity of HepG2 cells transfected with K19 siRNA. d Analysis using SA-β-gal demonstrates significant induction of cell senescence in PLC/PRF5 cells following K19 knockdown using siRNA transfection. e Senescence -related genes, p16 and p27, upregulated by K19 knockdown in PLC/PRF5 cells. f In liquid based cytology (LBC) of HuH-7 cells, the number of apoptotic cells increased following K19 knockdown