Fig. 2.

PTPN14 inhibits HCC growth and tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. The expression of PTPN14 in different HCC cell lines with varied metastatic potential was analyzed by qRT-PCR (A) and western blotting (B). C Verification of the efficiency of PTPN14 knockdown in HepG2 cells or overexpression in SK-Hep1 cells. D Cell proliferation was determined by MTT assays in HepG2 cells with stable PTPN14 knockdown and SK-Hep1 cells with PTPN14 stable overexpression at the indicated times. E Representative images and quantification of cell clones in HepG2 cells with stable PTPN14 knockdown and SK-Hep1 cells with PTPN14 stable overexpression as determined by a colony formation assay. HepG2 cells with stable PTPN14 knockdown and SK-Hep1 cells with PTPN14 stable overexpression were injected subcutaneously into nude mice (1 × 10⁷ cells per mouse, five mice per group). Mice and tumors were evaluated 5 weeks post-injection and representative images are shown (F). Tumor growth curve during the 5-week study period (G) and tumor weights (H) are shown. Data are shown as the mean  ±  SEM. Statistically significant differences were determined by Student’s t tests. *p  < 0.05; **p  < 0.01 compared with the respective controls