Fig. 4
TGF-β1 expression in tumorspheres is enhanced by RIG-I KD. a Tumorspheres of RIG-I knocked-down and control SMMC-7721 and Bel-7402 cell lines that had formed were collected, and the cells (2 × 106 cells/ml) were again grown in 6-well ultra-low attachment culture plates in DMEM/F-12 medium supplemented with 10 ng/ml of bFGF and 20 ng/ml of EGF for 72 h, and then the mRNA levels of cytokines and PTGES2 in the tumorsphes were determined by real-time PCR. b The levels of cytokine proteins and PGE2 in the culture supernatants were analyzed by ELISA. The values are presented as means ± SD (n = 3). **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 vs. NCsh spheres