Fig. 7

CircUCK2(2,3) sensitizes patient-derived HCC xenografts to the synergistic cytotoxic effect of lenvatinib with pelitinib. A and B qRT–PCR to determine the endogenous circUCK2(2,3) (A) and CNIH4 (B) levels in four HCC PDXs. C ELISA assays of TGFα in lysates of four HCC PDXs. D Protein levels of pEGFR-(Y1068), EGFR, and CNIH4 in four HCC PDXs. E–H Growth curves of four HCC PDXs in mice treated with vehicle control, lenvatinib (4 mg/kg), pelitinib (10 mg/kg), or their combination (lenvatinib, 4 mg/kg plus pelitinib, 10 mg/kg). n = 5 mice per group. Data are mean ± SD. Statistical analyses were performed using by two-way ANOVA. P-values were determined by two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons (ns, p > 0.05; *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001)