Fig. 1

Expression of α‐catenin mRNA and protein in human HCCs. A Comparison of α-catenin transcriptome data derived from human HCC tissues and adjacent liver tissues [23]. In total, 242 HCC tissues and 239 nontumorous liver tissues were included in this analysis. Statistical test: Mann–Whitney U test. ***p ≤ 0.001. B Kaplan–Meier plots showing HCC patient survival and tumor recurrence in relation to α-catenin mRNA expression. Patients were divided in two groups with low and high α-catenin expression using Cutoff Finder. Statistical test: Log-rank test. p-values and group sizes are indicated. C Representative images of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemistry stains for Ki67 and α‐catenin. The HCC tissue microarray (n = 695) contains normal livers (n = 216), DNs (n = 9) and HCCs (n = 470). The group of HCCs consists of well differentiated tumors (G1 and G2; n = 86 and 309, respectively) and poorly differentiated tumors (G3/4; n = 75). Scale bars: 60 µm. D Bar graph summarizing the distribution of cytoplasmic α‐catenin positivity in normal livers, DNs, and HCCs (G1, G2, and G3/4). Statistical test: Mann–Whitney U test. $: normal livers were used for statistical comparison. **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001. E Immunofluorescence images of normal livers and HCCs stained for α‐catenin. Nuclei are visualized by DAPI. Membranous α‐catenin (arrow heads) and cytoplasmic α‐catenin (arrow) are indicated. Three normal livers and 5 HCCs were investigated. One exemplary normal liver and two HCCs with prominent membranous (#1) and cytoplasmic (#2) α‐catenin positivity are shown. Scale bar: 20 µm