TGFB1 and liver cancer: To explored the correlation between linc00261, TGF-β1 and TGF-β1-induced EMT and CSCs in HCC cells, TGF-β1 was treated for 48 h in two epithelial liver cancer cell lines (Huh7 and HepG2), transition from epithelial to fibroblast-like appearance was observed (Additional file 2: Fig. S1), and the linc00261 expression was significant down-regulated in Huh7 and HepG2 cells (Fig. 1A, B).