Fig. 1

Tbx3 is highly expressed in hepatocarcinoma tissues and promotes tumor progression. a A high level of Tbx3 protein was detected in HCC tissues (C) compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues (N) by western blot assays. b The ratios of Tbx3 protein levels between clinical HCC tissues (C) and adjacent non-tumor tissues (N) were quantified; a C/N ratio > 1 indicates that the Tbx3 protein level was upregulated in the corresponding HCC patient tissue. c, d Large tumors were observed when HepG2 cells with ectopic expression of Tbx3 were inoculated into the livers of nude mice via tail vein injection (D) compared with the control (C) Hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) staining. e, f Immunohistochemical staining shows that Tbx3 was highly expressed in the tumor (D) but not in normal liver tissues (C)