Quantitative analyses of Cx32 protein expression showed that compared to paired non-tumor tissues, 62.5% of HCC samples showed downregulated levels of Cx32 expression (Fig. 1C); there was a significant difference in relative Cx32 protein levels between paired tumor and non-tumor tissues (p = 0.034, Paired t-test; Fig. 1B). Here, GJB1 is linked to neoplasm.