Fig. 4

circPSD3 promotes the metastasis and vascular invasion of HCC cells in vivo. (A) Representative images and quantification of H&E staining of lung metastatic nodules of nude mice injected with circPSD3-overexpressing or control HCC-LM9 cells via the tail vein. Scale bar, upper = 1000 μm; lower = 400 μm. (B) Representative images and quantification of H&E staining of intrahepatic metastatic nodules in the circPSD3 overexpression and control groups. Scale bar, upper = 300 μm; lower = 100 μm. (C) H&E-stained serial liver sections showing intrahepatic vascular invasion in the circPSD3 overexpression and control groups. Scale bar, upper = 400 μm; lower = 30 μm. (D–F) Representative images and quantification of H&E staining of lung metastatic nodules, intrahepatic metastatic nodules, and intrahepatic vascular invasion in the circPSD3 knockdown and control groups. Each group contained 5 mice. Data are shown as the mean ± SD. Statistical analyses were performed using unpaired Student’s t-tests (**p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001). circPSD3, circRNA pleckstrin and Sect. 7 domain containing 3; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; H&E, haematoxylin and eosin