SOX2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In order to understand whether the molecular mechanism of HGFK1 inhibiting the stemness of CSCs in HCC is associated with the Wnt/β-catenin and Notch signal pathways, we further determined the mRNA and protein levels of associated genes, including β-catenin, Nnotch1, and stemness-associated genes, including Nanog, Sox-2, 4-Oct, and CD90.