VIM and hepatocellular carcinoma: In addition to the reduced metastatic capacity, SOX4 knockdown HCC cells were observed to have alterations in cell morphology and showed decreased expression of the mesenchymal markers vimentin, suggesting that shRNA-mediated reduction in the expression of SOX4 in metastatic HCC cells reverts their mesenchymal phenotype to an epithelial phenotype through a mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) [35].