The IHC results showed that the expression levels of HMGA2, N-cadherin and vimentin were significantly inhibited in the combined si-hsa_circ_0006948 and agomiR-490-3p group compared with those in control group or si- hsa_circ_0006948 group alone, which implied that silencing hsa_circ_0006948 combined with miR-490-3p overexpression exhibits an additive inhibitory effect on ESCC growth in xenograft animal models (Figure 8). The gene discussed is HMGA2; the disease is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.