Fig. 3. Collagen I-DDR1 enhances the stemness of HCC.
A DDR1 knock-out or DDR1 mutation HLF cells were treated with sorafenib or doxorubicin. Cell viability was determined compared with the untreated cells, and IC50 values were calculated. B Extreme limiting dilution analysis of DDR1KO and control cells of HLF. Cells were serially diluted and then subcutaneously injected into 4-week-old male NOD/SCID mice (n = 12/group) (Left). CSCs frequency was calculated using ELDA software(Right). C 4-week-old male BALB/c nude mice were subcutaneously injected by DDR1 overexpression and control cells of Hep3B (n = 6/group) (Left). Tumor weight and volume were shown (Right). D Representative images of HE and IHC staining of DDR1, Ki67, and CD133 from BALB/c nude mice xenograft (scale bar = 100 μm). Two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test was performed. Each bar represents the mean ± SD. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.