Figure 1. The Notch3 pathway is activated in HCC tumor tissues.

Gene expression levels were measured with Q-RT-PCR assays (A–F); Notch3 and Hes1 genes were expressed at higher levels in tumor tissues compared with normal liver tissues (C, p = 0.0011, and F, p < 0.001; n = 32); The expression of other Notch pathway genes (Notch1, Notch2, Notch4, and Jagged2) in tumor tissues showed no significant changes compared with normal liver tissues (A, B, D, E; n = 32); Notch3 and Hes1 gene expression levels were higher in 71.8% and 78.1% of the HCC patients, respectively (G); A Pearson correlation analysis revealed the correlation between Notch3 and Hes1 expression (H, R² = 0.608, p < 0.001).