Figure 2. AOC4P suppresses the proliferation and migration of HCC cells in vitro.

A. J7 cells were transfected with the pCDNA3.1-AOC4P plasmid or empty vector, and then, cell proliferation was analyzed at the indicated time points via the MTT assay (left panel). The expression of AOC4P was also analyzed via qRT-PCR at 72 h after transfection (right panel). AOC4P overexpression significantly reduced cell growth 72 h compared with control vector transfection. Mock indicates no treatment. p < 0.001 (***). B. Colony formation ability was analyzed in cells at 12 days after transfection with the AOC4P expression plasmid or empty vector (left panel). The histogram shows that colony formation was significantly suppressed by AOC4P expression compared with empty vector transfection (right panel). C. The wound-healing assay results were compared between SK-Hep1 cells that were transfected with AOC4P plasmid or empty vector. More than 90% of the confluent cells were scraped using a 200 μl pipette tip and then photographed at 0, 24 and 48 h after scraping. The overexpression of AOC4P inhibited the wound-healing ability of SK-Hep1 cells. D. Cell migration was compared between J7 and SK-Hep1 cells that were transfected with either the AOC4P expression vector or empty vector. The overexpression of AOC4P significantly reduced cell migration ability (left panel). The quantification of the cell migration assays is presented (right panel). p < 0.001 (***). E. Invasion assays were performed using J7 and SK-Hep1 cells plated on Matrigel-coated polyethylene terephthalate membrane inserts. F. The migration activity of AOC4P -overexpressing cells was significantly rescued by treatment with AOC4P siRNA. The quantification of cell migration is presented. p < 0.001 (***).