Abnormal expression of HMGB-3 is significantly associated with malignant transformation of hepatocytes

Figure 4 Knockdown HMGB3 inhibited cell cycle and proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. A: Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to sort the pathways according to HMGB3 expression in GSE14520 and TCGA. Cell cycle and DNA replication pathways were found to be significantly correlated with HMGB3 expression. B: Proliferation of HepG2 cells transfected with shRNA-1 and NC-shRNA was detected using the MTT method. C: Cell cycle of HepG2 cells was analyzed after transfection with shRNA using flow cytometry. D: According to the GSEA analysis, three genes (CCNB1, PCNA, and FEN1) involved in cell cycle and DNA replication were detected after shRNA transfection using RT-qPCR. E: Western blotting was conducted to observe the protein expression of cyclin B1, PCNA, and FEN1 in the NC-shRNA and shRNA-1 group. F: Each bar represents the corresponding intensity in E normalized to GAPDH. G: Percentage columns represent the distribution of the cell cycle in corresponding groups. ^bP < 0.01.