Y-box binding protein 1 augments sorafenib resistance via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 2 Y-box binding protein 1 offsets the effect of sorafenib on proliferation in hepatoma cell lines. A: The IC₅₀ values of sorafenib in HepG2 and Huh7 cells infected with lentivirus encoding the Y-box binding protein 1 (lv-YB-1) or lentivirus encoding short hairpin RNA targeting YB-1 (Lv-shYB-1) were detected by the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay; B-E: Flow cytometry was conducted to perform cell cycle distribution analysis of the cells infected with the empty lentivirus vector as a negative control (Lv-NC) ± sorafenib vs Lv-YB-1 ± sorafenib groups (B, C) and lentivirus containing non-specific short hairpin RNA as a negative control (Lv-shNC) ± sorafenib vs Lv-shYB-1 ± sorafenib groups (D, E); F, G: Western blot analysis showed proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) protein expression in the Lv-NC ± sorafenib vs Lv-YB-1 ± sorafenib groups and Lv-shNC ± sorafenib vs Lv-shYB-1 ± sorafenib groups of HepG2 (F) and Huh7 (G) cells. PCNA protein levels (normalized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH)) were measured by scanning densitometry. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001 vs the indicated groups.