The epithelial HCC cells, such as HepG2 and PLC, exhibited high expression of E-cadherin and low expression of vimentin, while HCC cells with a mesenchymal phenotype such as Bel7402 and SMMC7721 demonstrated low expression of E-cadherin and high expression of vimentin (Figure 2C). Here, VIM is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.