We found that both hGC33-null-NP and hGC33 inhibited the growth of the GPC3-positive HCC cell line HepG2 after 24 h of treatment, but hGC33 had more significant inhibitory effect on HepG2 cells than hGC33-null-NP (Fig. 3a); in contrast, hGC33-null-NP and hGC33 did not affect the growth of the GPC3-negative Li-7 cell line (Fig. 3b). This evidence concerns the gene GPC3 and hepatocellular carcinoma.