Fig. 4

MKP-4 inhibits the tumorigenicity of HCC by targeting ERK1/2 pathway in vivo. a MKP-4 inhibits tumor growth of HepG2 cells in vivo. Control, MKP-4 silenced or MKP-4 overexpressed HepG2 cells were injected into BALB/c nude mice. b, c Tumor weight and volume harvested from the nude mice in different groups after 4 weeks. *P < 0.01, referring to differences between different groups. d The silence of MKP-4 significantly promotes tumor growth while MKP-4 overexpression inhibited tumor growth in nude mice. The data are mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. e Lysates from resected tumor specimens were used to detect the expression of ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2 and downstream targets of ERK1/2 pathway. The bar chart of the relative protein expressions in tumor tissues under the indicated treatments. The data are mean ± SEM (*P < 0.05). f Immunohistochemical analysis of MKP-4 and ERK1/2 in MKP-4-overexpressing or silenced tumors. g Immunofluorescent analysis of MKP-4 and ERK1/2 in MKP-4-overexpressing or silenced tumors. Scale bar: 100 μm