Figure 3. PKM2 promoted HCC growth in vivo.

(A) Left: Subcutaneous tumors derived from SMMC-NTC, -shPKM2 cells. Middle: volumes (mm³) of SMMC-NTC and -shPKM2 tumors were measured and plotted against time. Right: mass (g) of SMMC-NTC, -shPKM2 tumors were measured at the end of the experiment. (**P<0.01, Student’s t test) (B) Left: subcutaneous tumors derived from MHCC-97L-NTC and -shPKM2 cells. Middle: volumes (mm³) of MHCC-97L-NTC and -shPKM2 tumors were measured and plotted against time. Right: mass (g) of MHCC-97L-NTC and -shPKM2 tumors were measured at the end of the experiment. (C) Left: orthotopic tumors derived from MHCC-97L-NTC and -shPKM2 cells. Right: Tumor volume was measured at the end of the experiment. (D) Left: bioluminescent signals of the lung tissues in the mice orthotopically implanted with luciferase labeled-MHCC-97L-NTC and -shPKM2 cells. Right: mRNA expression of human hexokinase 2 (HK2) in lung tissues of mice orthotopically implanted with luciferase-labeled MHCC-97L-NTC and -shPKM2 cells. Values were normalized to mouse GAPDH. *P<0.05, **P<0.01,***P<0.001, Student’s t test. Scale: 1 cm.