HMGB1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To investigate the relationship between cytoplasmic HMGB1 and CD44, we performed immunohistochemistry experiments in 68 HCC tissues and demonstrated a tight association between cytoplasmic HMGB1 and CD44 (Figure 1A, 1B), which indicated there was a positive correlation between extracellular HMGB1 and CD44.