Fig. 3. NEAT1 siRNA induced apoptosis of HepG2 and Hep3B cells. (A) Effect of NEAT1 on HepG2 cell apoptosis per caspase 3/7 activity as evaluated by the Apo-ONE® Homogeneous Caspase-3/7 Assay. (B) Effect of NEAT1 on Hep3B cell apoptosis per caspase 3/7 activity as evaluated by the Apo-ONE® Homogeneous Caspase-3/7 Assay. (C) Effect of NEAT1 on HepG2 cell apoptosis as evaluated by fluorescence microscopy after Hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide (PI) double-fluorescent chromatin staining. (D) Effect of NEAT1 on Hep3B cell apoptosis as evaluated by fluorescence microscopy after Hoechst 33342/PI staining. (E) NEAT1 siRNA inhibited viability and promoted apoptosis of HepG2 and Hep3B cells. The following cell types were identified: viable cells (Hoechst 33342-positive/PI-negative), early apoptotic cells (Hoechst 33342-positive/PI-negative with blue fragmentation in the cells), late apoptotic cells (Hoechst 33342-positive/PI-positive, with red fragmentation in the cells), and necrotic cells (PI-positive with debris signals). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.