Fig. 2
Runx2 promotes the resistance of EpCAMhigh LCSCs to NK cell-meditated cell lysis. a: Isolation of EpCAMhigh and EpCAMlow cell subsets from Huh-7 cell lines through flow cytometry. b: Sphere formation by EpCAMhigh and EpCAMlow Huh-7 cells in stem cell medium, scale bar = 200 μm. n = 3. c: Immunofluorescence staining of Nanog, Oct-4, Sox-2, CK-18, and 𝛼-SMA in EpCAMhigh and EpCAMlow cells, scale bar = 20 μm. n = 3. d: Immunofluorescence stain of EpCAM and Runx2 in EpCAMlow and EpCAMhigh Huh-7 cells. e: Immunohistochemical analysis of Runx2 and EpCAM expressions in resected HCC specimens from patients. f: Immunofluorescence analysis of the correlation between Runx2-positive cell number and activated NK cell (CD56+NKP44+) number in surgically resected HCC specimens. g: Pearson correlation analysis of the correlation between Runx2-positive cell number and activated NK cell (CD56+NKP44+) number in HCC specimens. r values of b were calculated using a Pearson correlation test. h: Calcein AM cytotoxicity assay shows that Runx2 knockdown reverses EpCAMhigh Huh-7 cell resistance to NK cell-meditated lysis. n = 3