FIGURE 2.

Reduced thrombospondin 2 (THBS2) inhibits the aggressive phenotypes of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. (A) LOVO and HCT116 cells were transfected with sh‐THBS2 or sh‐Ctrl. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression of THBS2. (B) Cell growth was measured by CCK‐8 assay after THBS2 knockdown in LOVO and HCT116 cells. (C) THBS2 knockdown inhibited the growth of LOVO and HCT116 cells which was detected by the colon formation assay. (D) The xenograft pictures of sh‐Ctrl group (n = 6) and sh‐THBS2 group (n = 6). (E) Tumor volume in the nude mice injected with sh‐THBS2 stable transfected cells was measured. (F) Wound‐healing assay was used for detecting the migration ability in THBS2 knocked down LOVO and HCT116 cells. (G) The invading cells of the transwell assay were counted under a microscope in five randomly selected fields. **p <0.01 compared with sh‐Ctrl