Fig. 2. circHECTD1 promotes GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.

a circHECTD1 was knocked down in BGC823 and MKN45 cells using shRNAs. b Lentiviruses were used to upregulate the expression of circHECTD1 in SGC7901 and MGC803 cells. c CCK-8 assays were performed to demonstrate cell proliferation in circHECTD1-silenced GC cells. d The proliferative ability was assessed in circHECTD1-overexpressing GC cells using CCK-8 assay. e Colony formation assays showed the clone numbers in GC cells with circHECTD1 knockdown. f Colony formation assays demonstrated the clone numbers in GC cells overexpressing circHECTD1. g Transwell assays were conducted to examine the effects of circHECTD1 knockdown on GC cell migration and invasion. h The effects of circHECTD1 upregulation on GC cell migration and invasion were examined using transwell assays. The data are shown as the mean ± SEM, n = 3. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. NC