To assess to what extent our in-vitro findings are representative of what occurs in human HCC, we analyzed the expression of Notch3, Hes1, Cyclin G1 and MDM2 proteins and miR-221 in 27 surgically resected HCCs by western blot and Real-Time PCR respectively (Supplemental Table 1-2). This evidence concerns the gene HES1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.