Fig. 1.

ITGB5 promotes HCC tumorigenesis (a–c) ITGB5 was stably knocked down in Huh7 and MHCC-97 L cells, and the protein levels of ITGB5 were detected by western blotting. Cell proliferation was examined by a colony formation assay. Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. ***p < 0.001 vs. control. d–f Cell migration was detected by a transwell assay. Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 vs. control. g ITGB5 was overexpressed in Huh7 cells using the lentivirus expressing vector pCDH, and the expression levels of ITGB5 were detected by western blotting. h–i Cell growth was examined by colony formation assays. Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. ***p < 0.001 vs. control. j–k Cell migration was detected by a transwell assay. Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. ***p < 0.001 vs. control. l-n The tumour-forming abilities of MHCC-97 L cells with or without ITGB5 knockdown were measured in vivo (l). The tumour weight (m) was assessed. The ITGB5 expression level was examined by immunohistochemistry (n)