Fig. 2

Tie1 knockdown constrains hypoxia-induced cancer stemness properties. a Representative image of spheres after treatment. A549 cells and NCI-H1975 cells transfected with scramble or Tie1-shRNA lentiviruses were exposed to normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 48 h. The ability of the cells to form spheres was investigated by a sphere-forming assay. The percentage of sphere formation (diameter > 50 μm) is shown in the bar graph. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs Normoxia + sh-Scr, ^#P < 0.05 vs Hypoxia + sh-Scr. (n = 3). b The expression levels of stemness-related genes were determined by western blot analysis. Relative protein levels quantified by ImageJ and normalized to β-actin. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. (n = 3). c Migration ability of A549 and NCI-H1975 cells transfected by scramble or Tie1-shRNA lentiviruses incubated under normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 48 h were evaluated by Transwell assays. The numbers of migrated cells are shown in the bar graph. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs Normoxia + sh-Scr, ^#P < 0.05 vs Hypoxia + sh-Scr. (n = 3)