Fig 2: Suppressive effects of EIF4G2 on osteoblast differentiation. (A) RT-qPCR and Western blot to verify the successful transfection of si-EIF4G2 or oe-EIF4G2; (B/C) alizarin red staining to detect the mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells; (D) ALP activity assay; (E–G) RT-qPCR detection of ALP, COLIA1, and OPN; the values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation; *P < 0.05 versus si-NC; #P < 0.05 versus oe-NC

Fig 3: MiR-144 suppresses HCC development in vitro and in vivo. a Functions of overexpression of miR-144 on Hep3B and Huh7 cells were determined by colony formation assay. b RTCA analysis of cells proliferation in two HCC cells (The vertical line represented the time of cell transfection). c Cells migration ability was assessed by wound healing assay. d Cells invasion ability was measured by transwell invasion assay. e Statistical analysis of the invaded cells. f Fluorescent photos of nude mice bearing HCC tumors. g Representative of HCC tumors from NC and miR-144 overexpression groups. h The tumor growth curves. i HCC tumor weight was measured. j Representative images of EIF4G2 IHC staining of mice tumor sections from NC and miR-144 group. * p < 0.05, **p < 0.01

Fig 4: Functions of EIF4G2 in HCC are regulated by miR-144. a Western blot analysis of EIF4G2, ERK1/2 and p-ERK1/2 expression. b The migration ability was performed with scratch experiments. c The invasion ability was assessed by transwell invasion assays. **p < 0.01

Fig 5: A negative relation between miR-877-5p and EIF4G2. A: starBase predicted the binding sites of miR-877-5p and EIF4G2; B: dual luciferase reporter gene detection confirmed that miR-877-5p targeted binding to EIF4G2; C: RT-qPCR and Western blot detection of EIF4G2; the values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation; *P < 0.05 versus mimic NC; #P < 0.05 versus inhibitor NC