Fig. 6

USP24 regulates HCC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo.A Bel-7402, Huh-7, or PLC/PRF/5 cells were infected with control shRNA or USP24 shRNAs, and cell proliferation was monitored by trypan blue exclusion assay. B Cell morphology (96 h) was captured under the microscope. Original magnification, ×200. C Bel-7402 or Huh-7 cells were transfected with the indicated plasmids and seeded into 6-well plates at a density of 2000 cells/well. After 14 days, colony formation was detected by crystal violet staining. D PLC/PRF/5 cells were transfected with the indicated plasmids and seeded into 6-well plates at a density of 4000 cells/well. After 14 days, colony formation was detected by crystal violet staining. E HCC cells were infected with either shCtrl + vector, shUSP24-2 + vector, or shUSP24-2 + YAP1, and cell proliferation was monitored by CCK-8 assay. F, G Huh-7 (F) and PLC/PRF/5 (G) cells were infected with either shCtrl + vector, shUSP24-2 + vector, or shUSP24-2 + YAP1, and cell proliferation was monitored by colony formation assay. H, I Bel-7402 cells stably transfected with either shNC or shUSP24-2 were subcutaneously injected into BALB/c nude mice (n = 6 for each group) to establish an HCC xenograft mouse model. After 20 days, tumors from 12 of the mice were extracted and photographed. Tumor images (H, upper panel), tumor volume (H, lower panel) and weight (I) were assessed. J Expression patterns of Ki-67, TUNEL and YAP1 were examined by IHC analysis in the xenograft tumors of each group, Scale bar, 20 µM. Data are presented as mean ± SD, and P values were calculated using Student t test. ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, and ^***P < 0.001