Although not all hub gene expressions were significantly different, we found that BUB1 (Supplementary Figure 3A), CDC6 (Supplementary Figure 3C), CDC20 (Supplementary Figure 3D), CDC45 (Supplementary Figure 3E), MCM7 (Supplementary Figure 3J) and NDC80 (Supplementary Figure 3K) expressions were upregulated in HCC tumors compared with controls (P < 0.05). Here, BUB1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.