Figure 2

Heparanase (HPSE), upstream stimulatory factor (USF)1 and USF2 protein expression in primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues. HPSE, USF1 and USF2 protein expressions were significantly increased in primary HCC surgical specimens (n = 57) detected by immunohistochemistry (original magnification × 400). (A) HPSE-positive expression in HCC tumor tissues. Positive signal of HPSE was brown-yellow granules in nuclei of HCC cells. (B) HPSE weakly positive expression in corresponding non-neoplastic tumor surrounding tissues (NTST). (C) USF1-positive expression in HCC tumor tissues. Positive signal of USF1 was brown-yellow granules in nuclei of tumor cells. (D) USF1-negative expression in NTST. (E) USF2-positive expression in HCC tumor tissues. Positive signal of USF2 was yellow or brown granules in cytoplasm of HCC cells, which were distributed in dots and patches. (F) USF2-negative expression in NTST. All experiments were performed twice.