In an attempt to understand the role inflammation plays in stimulating the expression of stemness markers in HCC, Chang el al treated HepG2.2.15 and Hep3B cell lines with inflammation-conditioned medium (LPS-stimulated U937 condition medium) for 7 days and found increased levels of NANOG/OCT4/SOX2 mRNA and increased expression of NANOG/OCT4 in these cells. Here, SOX2 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.