Figure 1.

Notch1 expression is activated in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and reflects differentiation properties. Protein levels were detected by Western blot analysis. A: Notch1 and Hes1 proteins were obviously abundant in most of the tumor tissues; B and C: Gene expression levels were measured with qRT-PCR. Notch1 and Hes1 genes were expressed at higher levels in tumor tissues compared with normal liver tissues; D: Notch1 and Hes1 gene expression levels were higher in 75% and 79.7% of the hepatocellular carcinoma patients, respectively; E: A Pearson correlation analysis revealed a correlation between Notch1 and Hes1 expression (r² = 0.1893, P < 0.001); E and G: Notch1 is positively correlated with the AFP level (r² = 0.2025, P = 0.0015) and negatively correlated with the degree of differentiation (r² = 0.1411, P = 0.0093).