TTR and hepatocellular carcinoma: By analyzing TCGA database, the results showed that stemness-related genes TLR4 [30] and KRT19 [31] and the CSC markers CD133, CD90, CD44, and CD24 [32] positively correlated with CD146 and the differentiation-related markers including GJB1, FOXA2, FOXA3, HNF1A, HNF4A, and TTR [33] negatively correlated with CD146 in HCC (Fig. 1A).