Fig. 3.

Downregulation of circZFR inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer cells. a. qRT-PCR analysis of circZFR expression in HeLa cells after stable cirZFR knockdown using three different shRNAs targeting the junction region of circZFR (sh-circ) or control-shRNA (sh-Ctrl). Sh2-circ (sh-circ, hereafter) shown the highest knockdown efficacy. b. CircZFR expression levels in HeLa and SiHa cells stably expressing sh-circ or sh-Ctrl. c-d. Downregulation of circZFR by stable expression of sh-circZFR inhibits the proliferation ability of HeLa and SiHa cells as measured by CCK-8 assay and EdU assays (Scale bar = 200 μm). e. The colony formation assay showed that stable knockdown of circZFR inhibits the clonogenic ability of HeLa and SiHa cells. f-h. Stable knockdown of circZFR impedes cell migration and invasion ability of HeLa and SiHa cells as measured by wound healing and transwell matrigel migration and invasion assays (Scale bar in f = 200 μm, scale bar in g and h = 50 μm). i. The cell cycle was analyzed using flow cytometry after stable circZFR knockdown. CircZFR knockdown arrested cells in G0-G1 phase and decrease S phase. *P < 0.05, **P< 0.01, ***P< 0.001, ****P< 0.0001