Fig. 6

BCAT1 mediates the oncogenic effect of HuR in CRPC cells. A The protein expression levels of BCAT1 in HuR KO PC3 and DU145 cells with or without BCAT1 rescue were measured by western blotting. The lower show the expression intensity normalized to that of β-tubulin. B The proliferation of HuR KO cells with or without BCAT1 rescue was measured by a CCK-8 assay. C Clonogenic ability was determined in HuR KO cells with or without BCAT1 rescue. The right show the number of clones. D The migration and invasion of HuR KO cells with BCAT1 rescue were determined by transwell assays. The right show the quantitation of invasive and migrated cells. E The volume of tumour xenografts in nude mice inoculated with HuR KO1 PC3 cells harbouring rescued BCAT1 expression compared with that of mice inoculated with vehicle control HuR KO1 cells (n = 5). F The size (left) and weight (right) of tumour xenografts were measured on the 21st day after inoculation (n = 5). G In vivo images showing increased tumour xenografts and metastatic lesions in nude mice that were orthotopically inoculated with PC3 HuR KO1 cells bearing rescued BCAT1 expression compared to those inoculated with vehicle control HuR KO1 cells at 21 days (n = 3). The right panel shows the quantitative fluorescence intensity of tumour lesions in each type of nude mouse. sgControl cells served as a negative control. p values are shown for each comparison (^**p < 0.01, ^##p < 0.01)