In addition, compared with the control and scrambled groups, at both the mRNA level (Fig. 1d, right panel) and protein level (Fig. 1e), IL-8 was significantly downregulated by the silencing of HIF-1α in both HCC cell lines, suggesting that IL-8 expression may be regulated by HIF-1α. Here, CXCL8 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.