Fig 2: Overexpression of LASP1 in HNSCC cells promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion and enhances the G2/M stage of the cell cycle. A, Western blot and real‐time PCR were used to detect the LASP1 overexpression efficiency after the lentivirus‐OERNA infection of HNSCC cells. B, Cell proliferation at 6 d was measured by CCK‐8 following the overexpression of LASP1. C, A plate cloning formation assay was performed to investigate colony forming after the overexpression of LASP1; the number of clones containing >50 cells was counted. D, A transwell analysis was performed to measure metastasis and invasion following the overexpression of LASP1 in the HNSCC cells. E, The representative FACS results indicate the cell cycle changes following the overexpression of LASP1. The quantitative results were analysed in three independent experiments, ***P < .05, ****P < .01 compared with the control group

Fig 3: MIAT regulates LASP1 expression via miR-324-3p in papillary thyroid cancer cells. a There was a putative binding site for miR-324-3p on the 3′UTR of LASP1 mRNA. b Overexpression of miR-324-3p reduced relative luciferase activity of LASP1 3′UTR-WT not LASP1 3′UTR-MUT in HTH83 cells. c Overexpression of miR-324-3p reduced relative luciferase activity of LASP1 3′UTR-WT not LASP1 3′UTR-MUT in BHT101 cells. d Transfection of miR-324-3p inhibitor decreased miR-324-3p levels in HTH83 cells. e Downregulation of miR-324-3p increased mRNA levels of LASP1 in both HTH83 and BHT101 cells. f Western blotting showed that downregulation of miR-324-3p increased protein levels of LASP1 in both HTH83 and BHT101 cells. g Quantitative analysis of protein expression in f. h Western blotting showed that silencing of MIAT decreased LASP1 expression which was reversed towards downregulation of miR-324-3p in both HTH83 and BHT101 cells. i Quantitative analysis of protein expression in h. **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001

Fig 4: HSPA1A is essential for LASP1-mediated HNSCC cell aggressiveness. A, Cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8 in CAL27 cells at 6 days. B, The plate cloning formation assay was performed to determine the effect of HSPA1A interference on colony-forming ability; clones with over 50 cells were counted. C, A transwell analysis was performed to investigate metastasis and invasion following the HSPA1A interference in the HNSCC cells. *** P < .05, **** P < .01

Fig 5: The knockdown of LASP1 in HNSCC cells inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion and enhances the G2/M stage of the cell cycle. A, Western blot and real-time PCR were used to detect the LASP1 interference efficiency following the lentivirus-shRNA infection of HNSCC cells. B, Cell proliferation at 6 d was measured by CCK-8 following the LASP1 interference. C, The plate cloning formation assay was performed to determine colony-forming ability after LASP1 interference; clones containing more than 50 cells were counted. D, A transwell analysis was performed to measure metastasis and invasion following LASP1 interference in the HNSCC cells. E, The representative FACS results indicate the cell cycle changes following the LASP1 interference. The quantitative results were analysed in the three independent experiments, *** P < .05, ****P < .01 compared with the control group