Figure 3. Silencing of AGK inhibits angiogenesis and induces apoptosis in HCC cells in vitro.

(A) Confirmation of the silencing of AGK by two specific short hairpin RNAs in Huh-7 and PLC HCC cells; α-tubulin was used as a loading control. (B) Representative images (left) and quantification (right) of tubule formation by HUVECs cultured in Matrigel-coated plates with conditioned medium collected from the indicated HCC cells. Scale bars: 200 μm. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of three independent experiments; *P < 0.05. (C) Cell migration was assessed by culturing HUVECs with conditioned media collected from the indicated HCC cells. Scale bars: 50 μm. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of three independent experiments; *P < 0.05. (D) Annexin V-FITC/PI staining of the indicated cells after treatment with cisplatin (20 μM) for 24 hours. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of three independent experiments; *P < 0.05. (E) Representative images (left) and quantification of TUNEL-positive cells in the indicated cells after treatment with cisplatin (20 μM) for 24 hours. Scale bars: 50 μm. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of three independent experiments; *P < 0.05.