Figure 4. Aspirin up-regulated HTATIP2 expression and suppressed invasiveness and metastatic potential in a xenograft hepatoma model.

(A, B) Expression of HTATIP2 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry (A, original magnification, ×200) and Western blotting (B). (C) In HCCLM3-wt and HCCLM3-LV-shHTAITP2 models (left panel), HTATIP2 knockdown apparently increased IHM; aspirin did not affect these 2 models. In HepG2-wt and HepG2-LV-HTATIP2 models (right panel), overexpression of HTATIP2 obviously inhibited tumor invasion. The tumor margin was clearer with aspirin treatment in the HepG2-wt model. (D) Hematoxylin-eosin staining confirmed that lower expression of HTATIP2 promoted invasiveness and metastasis potential of HCC, which could be reserved by aspirin.