Fig. 4

Inhibition of HIF1A-AS1 reduced starvation-induced HCC cell autophagy. Three biological replicates were set for each group in the experiments. a, b The starvation-induced autophagic activity of HCC cell lines was detected by western blot assay. The expression of BECN1 and the conversion of LC3I to LC3II were significantly increased in 7721 and Huh7 HCC cell lines after 12-h EBSS culture. c, d The role of HIF1A-AS1 on starvation-induced HCC cell autophagic activity. The expression of BECN1 and the conversion of LC3I to LC3II were significantly decreased in 7721 and Huh7 HCC cell lines transfected with si-HIF1A-AS1 under starvation condition. e, f The role of HIF1A-AS1 on HIF-1α and mTOR pathway in 7721 and Huh7 HCC cell lines. The expression of HIF-1α and phosphorylated mTOR was significantly decreased after HIF1A-AS1 inhibition