Fig. 2

NUAK2 depletion blocks the proliferation and stemness of A549 cells. (A) A549 cells were transfected with sh-NUAK2-1 or sh-NUAK2-2 to achieve knockdown of NUAK2, and the mRNA level of NUAK2 was examined by qRT-PCR. (B) The protein expression of NUAK2 was examined by western blot. (C) CCK-8 assay was conducted to examine cell viability. (D) The colony formation assay was conducted to assess the proliferation ability. (E) Tumor spheres formation and AP staining assays were examined to reflect the stemness. (F) The protein expression of Oct4 and Nanog was examined using western blot. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 vs. sh-NC