Skip to main content
. 2014 Dec 26;9(12):e115036. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115036

Figure 2. PKM2 promoted HCC growth in vitro through regulating aerobic glycolysis and ROS levels.

Figure 2

(A) Two stable PKM2 knockdown clones were generated in MHCC-97L and SMMC-7721 cells. Expression of PKM2, PKM1, and β actin were evaluated by Western Blots. (B) Knockdown of PKM2 by two independent sequences consistently reduced HCC cell proliferation rate by cell counting. (C) Knockdown of PKM2 reduced lactate accumulation in multiple HCC cell lines. (D) Colorimetric assay showed that knockdown of PKM2 reduced the glucose consumption rate of multiple HCC cell lines. (E) Glucose uptake in HCC cells was confirmed with 2-NBDG staining. (F) Knockdown of PKM2 increased ROS accumulation in multiple HCC cells. (G) Knockdown of PKM2 decreased NADPH level in SMMC-7721 cells. Values were normalized to NTC of the according cell lines. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, **P<0.001 Student’s t test (n≧3).