Figure 3. Pim-3 expression is elevated in HCC tumors from patients who underwent chemotherapy and in MDR HCC cell lines.

(A) Pim-3 expression in representative tissue sections from HCC patients with or without prior chemotherapy treatment was determined by histochemical analysis. Expression of Pim-3 appears as brown particles. (B) Pim-3 protein levels in the non-chemotherapy and chemotherapy groups were quantified from Western blots. The expression levels of Pim-3 were normalized to those of β-actin. The horizontal line represents the median value, and the error bars indicate the SEM. *P<0.05. (C, D) The expression of Pim-3 in HepG2, HepG2/5-FU, Bel7402, and Bel7402/5-FU cells were measured by Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (C) and Western blot analysis (D). The normal hepatocyte line HL-7702 was also assessed as a negative control. Data are shown as representative images (top panels) or mean ±SD relative gray values normalized to GAPDH or β-actin expression from three independent experiments (bottom panels). **P<0.01.