FIGURE 4

DR5-AS knockdown modulates cell morphology in HeLa cells. (A) qPCR analyses of DR5-AS expression. HeLa cells were transfected with various GapmeRs or overexpression vectors for 72 and 48 h respectively and the amount of DR5-AS transcript was measured with qPCR. (B) qPCR analyses of DR5 sense mRNA expression. HeLa cells were transfected as explained in Figure 4A and DR5 expression was measured by qPCR. (C) Quantitative number of metaphase block cells in DR5-AS knockdown (DR5-AS-GapmeR-1), overexpression (pcDNA3.1-DR5-AS), and co-transfection groups. The same number of cells were visually counted under the microscope from at least three different regions and the percentage of amorphic cells was plotted. (D) Brightfield images of transfected cells after incubation period. (D’) The magnified areas of the parts encircled in white. Scale bar 50 μm. Negative GapmeR was used as negative control for transfection. pcDNA3.1 represents the empty vector for overexpression. ns, non-significant, p > 0.05, ^∗∗p ≤ 0.01, ^∗∗∗p ≤ 0.001, and ^****p ≤ 0.0001.