Fig. 1

The levels of SCAP are elevated in sorafenib-resistant HCC cells. Correlation between cancer progression and HLP (A), TC level (B), TG level (C), and HDL level (D) (n = 78). E Representative images of parental and SR cells stained with Oil Red O (n = 4). Bar = 50 μm. F Cholesterol content in parental cells and PLC-SR cells treated with sorafenib with a certain concentration gradient (n = 3). G The viability of sorafenib-treated cells with the addition of cholesterol in a dose-dependent manner. Immunoblot analysis of SCAP and n-SREBP2 protein expression in parental and PLC-SR cells (H) and 97H-SR cells (I) (n = 3). J mRNA expression of SCAP and downstream genes (SREBP1, SREBP2, HMGCR, LDLr, Fasn) as measured by qRT-PCR (n = 3). K Representative images of HCC tissues stained with Oil Red O (n = 6). Bar = 50 μm. L IHC staining of SCAP in HCC tissues (n = 6). Bar = 50 μm. Data are the mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. P values were determined by chi-square tests in (A); Student’s t test in (B), (C), (D), (E), (H), (I), and (J); and repeated-measures ANOVA in (F) and (G)