Fig. 5.

NORAD stimulates the viability, proliferation, and stemness of PCSCs via competitively suppressing miR-202-5p expression. PCSCs were treated with si-NORAD, NORAD and/or miR-202-5p mimic. A ALDH activity of PCSCs assessed by Aldefluor assay, where mock means a NC with the addition of DEAB (a specific inhibitor of ALDH enzyme); B Proliferation of PCSCs detected by MTT; C Apoptosis and cell cycle changes of PCSCs measured by flow cytometry; D Protein expression of ratios of cleaved-caspase3 to pro-caspase3, and of cleaved-caspase9 to pro-caspase9, and PARP1 in PCSCs detected by Western blot analysis; E Colony formation of PCSCs assessed by colony formation assay; F Self-renewal ability of PCSCs detected by sphere formation assay; G Protein expression of Oct4, Nanog and Sox2 in PCSCs measured by Western blot analysis; * p < 0.05 vs. cells without treatment. Measurement data were expressed as mean ± standard derivation. Data among multiple groups were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post hoc test, and data comparison among multiple groups at different time points was conducted using two-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post hoc test with Bonferroni post hoc test. The experiment was repeated three times