Figure 3. The oncogenicity of KSHV miR-K12-1 depends on the activation of IκBα/NF-κB/IL-6/STAT3 signaling.
A. IκBα expression, IL-6 knockdown, or STAT3 knockdown has no obvious effect on miR-K12-1-expressing cells cultured in medium containing 10% FBS. Cell growth rates were determined for Rat-1 cells stably expressing an empty vector, miR-K12-1, or miR-K12-1 together with IκBα, IL-6 shRNA or STAT3 shRNA cultured in medium containing 10% FBS. B. IκBα expression, IL-6 knockdown, or STAT3 knockdown suppresses miR-K12-1-driven cell growth when the supplemented FBS is decreased to 5%. Cell growth rates were determined for Rat-1 cells stably expressing an empty vector, miR-K12-1, or miR-K12-1 together with IκBα, IL-6 shRNA or STAT3 shRNA cultured in medium containing 5% FBS. C. IκBα expression, IL-6 knockdown, or STAT3 knockdown suppresses miR-K12-1-driven cell transformation. Soft agar colony formation assay was performed for Rat-1 cells stably expressing an empty vector, miR-K12-1, or miR-K12-1 together with IκBα, IL-6 shRNA or STAT3 shRNA.