N6-methyladenosine-modified long non-coding RNA KIF9-AS1 promotes stemness and sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma by upregulating SHOX2 expression

Figure 2 Depletion of the long noncoding RNA KIF9-AS1 suppressed the stemness characteristics and sorafenib resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Huh-7 cells were transfected with sh-KIF9-AS1 or sh-NC. A: The expression of KIF9-AS1 was measured via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; B: The viability of Huh-7 cells was assessed with a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay; C: The sphere formation ability of Huh-7 cells was examined; D: The protein levels of CD44, CD133 and epithelial cell adhesion molecule in Huh-7 cells were quantified via western blotting. Huh-7/R cells were transfected with sh-KIF9-AS1 or sh-NC; E: The IC₅₀ values in Huh-7 and Huh-7/R cells were calculated via a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay; F: The expression of KIF9-AS1 was measured via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; G and H: Cell proliferation and cell apoptosis were evaluated via colony formation assays and flow cytometry, respectively. The data are shown as the means ± SDs (n = 3). ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01. Each experiment was repeated three times. EpCAM: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule.