Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 13 pp 6503—6525

Figure 1. Galectin-1 expression is associated with patient survival and sorafenib response in HCC cells. (A) Sorafenib-resistant Huh-7 (Huh-7/SR) cells were established and exposed to various sorafenib doses for 48 and 72 h, and cell viability was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. (B) The mRNA expression of the Galectin family was examined in Huh-7 and Huh-7/SR cells through qRT-PCR. (C) Correlation between Galectin-1 expression and IC₅₀ of sorafenib in a panel of HCC cells. Pearson’s correlation r = 0.5881, and P = 0.0443. (D) Immunohistochemistry staining was performed to examine Galectin-1 expression in normal liver tissue and HCC tissues. (E) The Oncomine database was analyzed to evaluate Galectin-1 expression in HCC tissues compared with normal tissues, with statistics from individual studies obtained from the Oncomine database; fold change (Log2 median-centered intensity) and P values are presented within the box plot. (F) Evaluation of Galectin-1 expression in different HCC stages by using The Cancer Genome Atlas database (http://ualcan.path.uab.edu/index.html). (G) Kaplan–Meier plot revealing the association of Galectin-1 with overall survival in patients with HCC. High Galectin-1 expression was associated with poor survival in patients with HCC. Hazard ratios and P values are presented within the box plot. (H) Analysis of HCC cells of different tumor grades revealed that high Galectin-1 expression was associated with low overall survival. Hazard ratios and P values are presented within the box plot. Data are representative of at least three independent experiments performed in triplicate. Data are presented as means ± standard deviations. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001 (Student’s t test).