RT-PCR and western blot analyses of ITGB4 expression in the HCC cell lines Bel-7402, SMMC-7721, MHCC-97H, and MHCC-LM3 in comparison to the LO2 normal hepatic cell line showed significantly higher ITGB4 expression in HCC than in normal cells at the mRNA (Fig. 1C) and protein (Fig. 1D) levels. This evidence concerns the gene ITGB4 and hepatocellular carcinoma.