Figure 6.

Knockdown of Beclin‐1 sensitizes NEK2‐OE KMS11 MM cells to BTZ in vivo. (A) KMS11 NEK2‐OE + Scr and KMS11 NEK2‐OE + BECN1‐shRNA MM cells were injected subcutaneously into the left abdomen of B‐NDG mice, and shRNA expression was induced by the addition of doxycycline to the drinking water about 10 days after injection of tumor cells. 2 days after addition of doxycycline, half mice of both groups were treated with BTZ (1 mg·kg⁻¹). Differences in tumor size are shown between tumors transplanted with KMS11 NEK2‐OE + Scr or KMS11 NEK2‐OE + BECN1‐shRNA MM cells treated with or without BTZ. (B) Western blots showed Beclin‐1 is indeed knocked down in KMS11 NEK2‐OE + BECN1‐shRNA MM cells after BECN1‐shRNA expression. (C) Tumor volume assessments showed smaller tumor sizes in KMS11 NEK2‐OE + BECN1‐shRNA mice treated with BTZ than in other groups. (D) The model of our working hypothesis. ^ns P> 0.05, **P < 0.01. Significance was determined by Student’s t‐test. Error bars indicate SD.