Total RNA of HCC cells was extracted by using a PARISTM Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) and reverse transcribed by Multiscribe™ Reverse Transcriptase (Thermo Fisher Scientific) agent. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed following the methods described in references.35 (link),36 (link) The level of β-actin mRNA was measured as a loading control. Primers used in qPCR experiments are listed in Table 1.