Fig. 1

Hepatocyte-derived Igκ is highly expressed in HCC cells and is associated with a poor prognosis. A Alignment of Vκ4-1/Jκ3 sequences amplified from HCC cells. Degenerate primers for amplifying all possible variable regions were used in RT-PCR for the detection of IGK transcripts in HCC tissues and cell lines. All sequences from HCC cells, including the HCC cell lines Huh7 and MHCC-97 H and 6 HCC tissue samples, are presented; they were aligned with their germline counterparts (marked germline). Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) was used as a positive control. B Representative images of IHC staining for Igκ and Vκ4-1/Jκ3-Igκ in liver cancer tissues and adjacent liver tissues (left). Statistical analysis was conducted to evaluate the differences between 10 matched cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues (right) (n = 10). Scale bars, 50 μm. C The expression of Igκ and Vκ4-1/Jκ3-Igκ was evaluated via western blot analysis in 2 cases of matched HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues. GAPDH was used as a loading control. D The correlation of IGKC and IGKV4-1 with AFP expression. E ROC curve analysis of the correlation between IGKC or IGKV4-1 and HCC prognosis. The data are presented as the mean ± SD. ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001