MTA2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To examine the expression of MTA2 in HCC cells, SK-Hep-1 and Huh-7 cells (cells with high MTA2 expression) as well as PLC/PRF/5, HepG2, and HA22T/VGH cells (cells with low MTA2 expression) were further investigated using Western blotting and an RT-qPCR assay.