Fig. 3

Inhibition of miR-422a promotes proliferation and tumor growth of CRC cells. a Ectopic expression of miR-422a-inhibitor in SW837 and HCT116 CRC cells was validated by real-time PCR. b Cell growth analyzed by MTT assays. c Representative results of colony formation. The numbers of colonies containing > 50 cells were scored and the error bars represent mean ± SD from three independent experiments. d Quantification of the numbers of Ki-67-positive cells (yellow–brown) by immunohistochemical staining. e Anchorage-independent colony formation assays. Only cell colonies > 0.1 mm in diameter were counted. f Images of tumor from nude mice injected with HCT116. (n = 4). Tumor volumes were measured on the indicated days. Data points of tumor volume are presented as the mean ± SD. g Histopathological analysis of xenograft tumors. The tumor sections were stained with H & E or subjected to IHC staining using an antibody against Ki-67. Error bars represent mean ± SD from three independent experiments. *p < 0.05