Fig. 2

POSTN in HSC-CM mediated the increased proliferation, migration, and invasion of heat-exposed residual HCC cells. a, b The alterations of Snail, Vimentin, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, PCNA protein expression in heat-exposed residual HCC cells cultured with POSTN-depleting HSC-CM from LX2 cells or pHSC cells. c Distinct spindle-like appearance of heat-treated residual HCC cells (MHCC97H and HepG2) induced by exogenous POSTN (100 ng/mL). d After treated with exogenous POSTN, heat-exposed residual HepG2 cells showed significantly higher levels of Ki-67, cyclinD1, PCNA, Snail mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner, as measured by qRT-PCR. e, f After treated with exogenous POSTN, heat-exposed residual HCC cells (Huh7, MHCC97H, HepG2 and Hep3B) showed significantly higher levels of cyclinD1, Snail, PCNA, N-cadherin, Vimentin and markedly lower level of E-cadherin compared to the control, as detected by qRT-PCR and western blot. pHSC primary hepatic stellate cells. **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05