Figure 7.

The regulatory effect of UTMD-shEZH2 on the expressions of EMT-related factors and the activation of the STAT3/PI3K/AKT pathway of CD133+ HuH7 cells in vivo was stronger than that of LIP-shEZH2. (A–B) The expressions of E-Cadherin, Vimentin, N-Cadherin, and Twist-1 in tumor tissues were detected by RT-qPCR; GAPDH was used as an internal control. (C–D) The expressions of E-Cadherin, Vimentin, N-Cadherin, and Twist-1 in tumor tissues were detected by Western blot; GAPDH was used as an internal control. (E–I) The expressions of p-STAT3, STAT3, p-PI3K, PI3K, p-AKT, and AKT in tumor tissues were detected by Western blot; GAPDH was used as an internal control. (**P< 0.01, ***P< 0.001, vs LIP-shNC; ^{^^^}P< 0.001, vs UTMD-shNC; ^#P< 0.05, ^##P< 0.01, ^###P< 0.001, vs LIP-shEZH2).

Abbreviations: UTMD, ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; LIP, liposome; NC, negative control.