Fig. 1

MSI2 was closely related to CD44v6 and predicted poor prognosis. a Western blot analysis of CD44v6 and MSI2 protein levels in HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues selected randomly. β-actin was used as a normalized control. b Analysis of CD44v6 protein levels relative to β-actin in 28 pairs of HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues (n = 28, *p = 0.0179, t test). c Analysis of MSI2 protein levels relative to β-actin in 28 pairs of HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues (n = 28, **p = 0.0012, t test). d and e Kaplan–Meier survival analysis of overall survival and disease-free survival were compared according to the expression levels of CD44v6 in HCC tissues. Patients with high CD44v6 expression had shorter overall survival (d, median survival = 24 months Vs. 36 months, log-rank test, n = 82, *p = 0.0486) and disease-free survival (e, median survival = 20 months Vs. 36 months, log-rank test, n = 82, **p = 0.0426). f and g Kaplan–Meier survival analysis of overall survival and disease-free survival were compared according to the expression levels of MSI2 in HCC tissues. Patients with high MSI2 expression had shorter overall survival (f, median survival = 18 months Vs. 40 months, log-rank test, n = 82, ****p<0.0001) and disease-free survival (g, median survival = 12 months Vs. 38 months, log-rank test, n = 82, ****p<0.0001). h Representative images of IHC staining of MSI2 in tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues. And analysis of MSI2 expression in tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues by paired t test. Scale bars: 200 μm and 50 μm. i The expression of MSI2 and CD44v6 in tumor tissues from the same HCC patient were analyzed by IHC staining and found that MSI2 was positively correlated with CD44v6 (n = 82, r = 0.6093, ****p<0.0001, Pearson’s correlation). Scale bars: 200 μm and 50 μm