Figure 3.

EMT-related markers are significantly differentially expressed in primary HCC tumors compared with adjacent non-tumoral tissues. (A) E-cadherin was highly expressed in adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (a, b), and the expression of E-cadherin was nearly absent in tumor tissues (c, d). Vimentin, twist and ZEB1 expression was significantly lower in adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (e, f; i, j; m, n) than in primary HCC tumors (g, h; k, l; o, p). The expression of ZEB2 was prone to be downregulated in HCC tumors (s, t) compared with adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (q, r). There was no apparent difference in the snail expression in adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (u, v) and HCC tumors (w, x). Slug expression was barely detectable in adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (y, z) or HCC tumors (α, β). Original magnification × 100 (a, c, e, g, i, k, m, o, q, s, u, w, y, α), bar=100 μm. and corresponding areas with higher magnification × 200 (b, d, f, h, j, l, n, p, r, t, v, x, z, β), bar=50 μm. (B) A representative immunoblot of E-cadherin, vimentin, twist, ZEB1, ZEB2, snail and slug protein levels in adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (TN) and HCC tumors (T). β-actin was used as an internal standard for protein loading. (C) A representative immunoblot of E-cadherin, vimentin and twist expression in several HCC cell lines and HeLa cells. (D) The relative quantification analysis revealed that E-cadherin was significantly downregulated in HCC tumors compared with the adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (n=28, **P=0.003). Vimentin, twist and ZEB1 expression levels were significantly upregulated in HCC tumors compared with the adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (n=28, **P=0.002, ***P<0.001, *P=0.016). ZEB2 expression was significantly decreased in HCC tumors compared with the adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues (n=28, *P=0.030). There was no statistically significant difference for snail and slug expression in HCC tumors or paired adjacent non-tumoral liver tissues