SFRP1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report that NE up-regulates sFRP1 expression in HSCs through the activation of α1A-ADR signaling and that sFRP1 signaling from NE-stimulated HSCs promotes malignant characteristics of HCC cells (EMT, parameters of proliferation-related genes, and cancer stem cell markers).