DNA methyltransferase 1/miR-342-3p/Forkhead box M1 signaling axis promotes self-renewal in cervical cancer stem-like cells in vitro and nude mice models

Figure 6 Effects of forkhead box M1 shRNA on cervical cancer stem cell-like cell self-renewal of HeLa derived cervical cancer stem cell-like cells. A: Forkhead box M1 (FoxM1) protein in cervical cancer stem cell-like cells (CCSLCs) transfected with FoxM1 shRNA, with α-tubulin as a loading control; B: DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) mRNA level in CCSLCs transfected with FoxM1 shRNA; C: MicroRNA (miR)-342-3p levels in CCSLCs transfected with FoxM1 shRNA; D and E: Representative images of spheres and colonies (left) (scale bars = 100 μm); sphere formation efficiency and colony formation efficiency (right) in CCSLCs transfected with FoxM1 shRNA; F: CD133 and CD49f protein amount in CCSLCs transfected with DNMT1 shRNA with α-tubulin as a loading control; G: SRY-box transcription factor 2 (SOX2) and octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) mRNA amounts in CCSLCs transfected with FOXM1 shRNA; H: Subcutaneous xenografts of HeLa-derived CCSLCs (1 × 10⁵) treated with sh-negative control (sh-NC) or sh-FOXM1 (left); comparison of tumor volume (middle left), tumor weight (middle right), and growth curves of tumor xenografts (right) between CCSLCs treated with sh-NC or sh-FOXM1; I: Micrographs of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect the expression of DNMT1, FoxM1, and CD133 proteins as well as in situ immunofluorescent hybridization for miR-342-3p (scale bars = 50 μm). Data were obtained from xenografts with four mice per group (n = 4). ^aP < 0.05 vs CCSLCs transfected with sh-NC; ^bP < 0.001 vs CCSLCs treated with sh-NC. Cont: Control.