Fig. 5

The miR-377-3p/CPT1C axis regulates HCC tumor growth and metastasis in nude mice. A HepG2 cells stably infected with lentivirus carrying CPT1C shRNA or control shRNA were treated with antagomir miR-377-3p (anti-miR-377-3p) or antagomir NC (scramble) and injected into nude mice as indicated. After 42 days, mice were euthanized to harvest tumors. Images of all xenograft tumors excised at day 42 were shown. The tumor growth curves were plotted. ATP level of tumor tissues (mouse no. V) was determined. MiR-377-3p expression in representative tumor tissues (mouse no. V) was examined by MISH and RT-qPCR, and CPT1C expression was determined by IHC and western blot, and lipid content was conducted by BODIPY 493/503, respectively. Tumor volumes are presented as means ± SD (n = 6). **p < 0.01 at day 42. Data shown are mean ± SD of quintuplicate measurements for ATP level and were repeated 3 times with similar results. **p < 0.01. B Representative lung tissues and H&E-stained sections of the lung tissues. The number of tumor nodules were shown (right panel). **p < 0.01