MMP9 and liver dysplastic nodule: Additionally, further semi-quantitative analysis of the protein expression levels of NONO, MMP-9, Col-I, and Col-III revealed that their expression levels were higher in both the early and late DN groups compared to the control group (P<0.05), with the late DN group showing higher expression levels than the early DN group (P<0.05) (Figure 1E-H).