SOX2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Meanwhile, linc00261 was found down-regulated at the early time of TGF-β1 stimulation (Fig. 1E), with the expression of Vimentin, ZEB1 upregulated, and E-cadherin expression down regulated in Huh7 cells; besides, the expression of CSCs-relative markers, including CD133, OCT4, and SOX2 were increased which were reported to be associated with poor prognosis of HCC [27].