Figure 9.

Overexpression of SMOC2 suppresses the tumorigenicity of HCC in vivo. HepG2 or Bel-7402 cells infected with LV-NC and LV-SMOC2 were injected into nude mice, as described in the Materials and Methods section. A. The tumor growth curves for each group. The tumor growth rate was reduced in the tumors that overexpressed SMOC2. B. Photographs of dissected tumors from the nude mice. The final tumor volumes were smaller in the HepG2/LV-SMOC2 and Bel-7402/LV-SMOC2 groups than that in the control group. C. The tumor weights of each group. The final tumor weights were decreased in the tumors that overexpressed SMOC2. The data are presented as mean ± SD. P-values were calculated using the Student's t-test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 versus negative control LV-NC.