Figure 5. Effects of miR-31 and BAP1 on the growth of lung cancer cell xenografts in mice.

A. Flow chart of the experimental plan. A549 cells were infected with a control lentivirus or a lentivirus to overexpress miR-31, transfected with a BAP1 overexpression plasmid, or co-transfected with a lentivirus to overexpress miR-31 and a BAP1 overexpression plasmid. A549 cells (2 × 10⁶ cells per 0.1 mL) with different treatments were implanted subcutaneously into 6-week-old SCID mice (5 mice per group), and the tumor growth was evaluated on day 35 after cell implantation. B. Representative images of the tumors from the implanted mice. C. Quantitative analysis of the tumor weights. D. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of miR-31 levels in the tumors from implanted mice. E. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of BAP1 mRNA levels in the tumors from implanted mice. F. and G. Western blotting analysis of BAP1 protein levels in the tumors from implanted mice. F. representative image; G. quantitative analysis. H.-J. H&E-stained sections and immunohistochemical staining for Ki-67 and BAP1 in the tumors from implanted mice. H. representative image; I. and J. quantitative analysis. (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.005).