Fig. 2

NRF1 promotes HCC cell growth by inducing G1-S cell cycle transition. A-B NRF1 knockdown (shNRF1#1 and shNRF1#2; shNC as negative control) and overexpression (LV-NRF1; LV-NC as negative control) efficiency were determined by qRT-PCR (A) and Western blot (B). C Cell proliferation of Huh7 and MHCC97H after NRF1 knockdown or overexpression was detected by CCK8 assay. D Colony formation assay was conducted with Huh7 and MHCC97H after NRF1 knockdown or overexpression. The bar graph showed the quantitative results. E Cell cycle distribution was analysed by flow cytometry with propidium iodide staining. The relative cell cycle proportion was shown in the bar graph. F Cell cycle driver genes protein level were analysed by Western blot after NRF1 knockdown or overexpression. G GSEA using KEGG cell cycle gene set between high NRF1 and low NRF1 group in TCGA-LIHC dataset. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001