EGFL8 and hepatocellular carcinoma: As shown in Fig. 2c, though a few scattered spherical cells were found in the scratch wound, the wound healing assay showed that the closure rate of wound in HCCLM3EGFL8 was significantly lower than HCCLM3Vector (for 24 h: 3.33% ± 0.33% versus 17.33% ± 2.33%, P = 0.004; for 72 h: 22.67% ± 1.76% versus 35.67% ± 2.96%, P = 0.0026) but higher in Hep3BshEGFL8 cells than Hep3BshCtrl cells (for 24 h: 25.67% ± 1.33% versus 5.67% ± 1.45%, P < 0.001; for 72 h: 38.67% ± 2.03% versus 9.33% ± 1.86%, P < 0.001), indicating a suppressing role of EGFL8 in migration of HCC cells.