Figure 7. Correlation of TAZ/YAP and IRS2–p-AKT expression in patients with liver cancer.

(A and B) Scatter plots of log₂ (mRNA abundance) values for IRS2 versus TAZ or YAP1 (A) and for IRS2 versus CTGF or CYR61 (B) in tissue specimens from patients with liver cancer or cirrhosis (n = 47) (36), HCC (n = 91) (38), or both HCC and cirrhosis (n = 96) (37). These data were obtained from the Oncomine database and were compared with one another by calculation of the Pearson’s r correlation coefficient. (C and D) Representative IHC staining of TAZ and IRS2 (C) or YAP and IRS2 (D) in HCC patients’ specimens and a comparison of their corresponding levels of expression using the χ² test (P < 0.001 for C and D). Scale bars: 100 μm. (E and F) Representative images of HCC specimens with associated NAFLD that had high TAZ, YAP, IRS2, and p-AKT (Ser473) IHC intensities compared with HCC specimens not associated with NAFLD (Non-NAFLD) (E). Quantification of the percentage of specimens from E and F. ***P < 0.001, by χ² test. Scale bars: 50 μm. ND, not detected.