Figure 2. miR-638 inhibits CRC cell proliferation, invasion and regulates cell cycle progression.

(A) The upregulation of miR-638 repressed the proliferation of HCT-116 and LoVo cells, whereas the knockdown of miR-638 enhanced the cellular growth rate of HCT-116 and LoVo cells. The cell counting Kit-8 assay was used to determine the cell growth rate. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, compared to the negative control (NC). (B) HCT-116 and LoVo cells stably expressing miR-638 showed decreased colony formation rates compared to the control cells. (C) The effect of miR-638 on tumor formation in a nude mouse xenograft model. LoVo and HCT-116 cells stably expressing miR-638 or the control (2×10⁶) were injected s.c. into the right flank of each nude mouse. The tumor volume and weight of the miR-638 group were significantly decreased compared to the control group (*p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001). (D) Cell cycle analysis of LoVo and HCT-116 cells transfected with miR-638, anti-miR-638 or NC. miR-638 induced G1-phase arrest in CRC cells (*p<0.05, ** p<0.01). (E) miR-638 overexpression repressed the invasion of LoVo and HCT-116 cells, whereas the silencing of miR-638 enhanced the invasion of LoVo and HCT-116 cells (*p<0.05, ** p<0.01).