Fig. 3
Overexpression of MT2A inhibits cell proliferation and migration of CRC cells. A A lentiviral vector was used to overexpress MT2A in HCT8 and HCT116 cells. The expression level of MT2A was examined by qRT–PCR and Western blot analyses, which confirmed that the MT2A lentiviral vector successfully overexpressed MT2A in HCT8 and HCT116 cells. B An EdU assay was used to evaluate tumor cell growth. MT2A overexpression significantly reduced the EdU-positive rate compared to control HCT8 and HCT116 cells. GFP expression indicated successful lentiviral transduction into both cell lines. C Flow cytometry was used to compare cell cycle distribution between empty and MT2A overexpression group in HCT8 and HCT116 cells. D Flow cytometry was used to analyze cell cycle distribution in HCT8 cells after knockdown of MT2A. E A colony formation assay was used to evaluate the effect of MT2A expression on colony formation ability, and the data showed that MT2A overexpression significantly inhibited colony formation in HCT8 and HCT116 cells. F, G Transwell assays showed that MT2A overexpression significantly inhibited cell migration compared to control HCT8 and HCT116 cells. 5 × 104 cells were seeded in each well. H Transwell assays showed that knockdown of MT2A promoted migration of HCT8 cells. 1 × 104 cells were seeded in each well. OE overexpression. NC negative control. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001