a, Cell apoptosis analysed by FACS (n = 3). b, In vitro migration assay. Result was calculated on the basis of five randomly selected fields per membrane in triplicate (n = 3). c, In vitro three-dimensional invasion assay (n = 5). d, Representative images of immunohistochemical staining of p-Y393-AGO2 in human breast tumour and its adjacent normal tissue. e, Correlation between p-Y393-AGO2 and overall survival in breast cancer patients (n = 125). P <0.0001, Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. All data represent mean ± s.d.; *P <0.05, t-test.