Figure 1.

Hepatocyte growth factor induces sorafenib resistance in HCC cells. (A and B) Serum‐starved SMMC‐7721 and HepG2 cells were incubated with sorafenib for 48 h after pre‐treatment with HGF (10 ng·mL⁻¹) for 24 h. Cell viability was detected by CCK‐8 assay. (C and D) Treatment was as described above, and the apoptotic cells were determined by flow cytometry. (E) Treatment was as described above, and cell apoptosis was detected by western blotting of PARP. The density of each band was normalized to α‐tubulin and is displayed below. CF, cleaved form. (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01). Data are expressed as the mean ± SD from three individual experiments. Differences between groups were determined using Student's t‐test and two‐way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction.