TNFR1 mediates the biological functions of HRG in HCC cells. (A) SMMC-7721 cells were co-transfected with Flag-HRG and TNFR1 siRNA, following which cell proliferation was detected via EdU assays. (B) The expression of phospho-P65, c-MYC, and BCL-2 was detected by western blotting after TNFR1 was silenced and HRG was overexpressed in SMMC-7721 cells. (C) The activity of NF-κB was determined using a luciferase assay in SMMC-7721 cells after transfection with Flag-HRG plasmids and TNFR1 siRNA. (D) The mRNA expression levels of BCL2L1, NFΚB1, and MYC in SMMC-7721 were detected using qRT-PCR after the cells were transfected with Flag-HRG plasmids and TNFR1 siRNA. (*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; NS = not significant).