Regulation of PTEN-Akt axis by chemerin. a Expression of p-Akt (Ser473), total Akt, chemerin and β-actin in chemerin-overexpressing cells, chemerin knockdown cells and their respective control cells. b 7404 cells are treated with 1 nM chemerin, and cells are collected at the indicated time points. “−”, control, “+”, chemerin added, “++”, fresh media containing 1 nM recombinant chemerin was replenished every 2 h. c Expression of PTEN in control and chemerin-overexpressing HCC cells. Relative quantification of PTEN expression is listed below. d PTEN activity of control and chemerin-overexpressing HCC cells. ***p < 0.001 for 7404/che H vs. 7404/v, PVTT-1 che vs. PVTT-1 con, Unpaired t test. Precipitated PTEN is shown below. e PTEN ubiquitination in control and chemerin-overexpressing HCC cells. f Representative immunohistochemical staining for chemerin, p-Akt (Ser473) and PTEN of the same tissue cores (TMA1). Scale bar = 100 µm