Figure 1.

The NRF2 activity and ARE-dependent gene expression are elevated in a subgroup of human HCC tissues and correlate with serum AFP. AT=adjacent tissue; HCC=hepatocellular carcinoma; n=16. *P<0.05 vs AT. (A) Representative images of H&E (left) and IHC (right) staining with a polyclonal NRF2 antibody in HCC and AT. Images were taken by a microscope with a Nikon 80i camera (40 × magnification). Arrows indicate nuclear NRF2 staining. (B) Quantification of NRF2 IHC staining. IOD=integrated optical density. (C) Elevated mRNA levels of NFE2L2 and ARE-dependent genes in HCC. (D) Relative NRF2 score was calculated by summing up the relative mRNA expression of NQO1, GCLC, GCLM, HMOX-1, AKR1C1, AKR1C2 and AKR1C3. (E) The NRF2 score in HCC is positively correlated with serum levels of AFP. AFP=α-fetoprotein. Linear correlation analysis: R²=0.45. A full colour version of this figure is available at the British Journal of Cancer journal online.