Figure 4.

Metabolic gene expression levels in each degree of cancer differentiation in human HCC samples. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of metabolic genes related to (a) glycolysis, (b) TCA cycle, (c) FA synthesis and uptake, and (d) β-oxidation. The gene expression levels normalized to those of noncancer tissues and were presented as mean ± SE. ^∗p < 0.05 and ^∗∗p < 0.01 vs. noncancer tissue. ^†p < 0.05, ^††p < 0.01 vs. well-differentiated HCC tissue. G6PD, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; PK, pyruvate kinase; PDK, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase; ACO, aconitase; FAS, fatty acid synthase; CPT, carnitine palmitoyltransferase; HADH, hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase.