Secondary antibodies were diluted with TBSA (against mouse and rabbit, 1:5000; Dingguo Bio, Beijing, China). Immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemical assays Immunohistochemical staining was performed based on the method of Tang [14]. In a typical procedure, after rehydration and antigen retrieval, cell slides were incubated with diluted primary antibody against human p-Akt (1:50; Cell Signaling Technology, Boston, USA) and p-ERK (1:50; Cell Signaling Technology, Boston, USA) at 4°C overnight, followed by the secondary antibody conjugated with HRP (anti rabbit, 1:200; Dingguo Bio Beijing, China) at 37°C for 30 min. Staining

was carried out with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) and counter-staining was conducted with Mayer’s hematoxylin. Cell immunocytochemical assay was performed similar to the above method except CH5424802 for the cell coverslip preparation and fixation,

as well as the use of primary antibodies against Ki67 (1:100; Dako, Copenhagen, Denmark), MMP2 (1:100; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Heidelberg, Germany), and MMP9 (1:100; Cell Signal Technology, Boston, USA). Human cytokine array Angiogenesis-related protein expression in CM and EBM was evaluated by a semiquantitative technique (Proteome Profiler™, Human Angiogenesis Array Selleckchem Midostaurin Kit, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The selected capture antibodies were spotted in duplicate on nitrocellulose membranes. Samples were diluted and mixed with a cocktail much of biotinylated detection antibodies. The sample/antibody mixture was then incubated with a Human Angiogenesis Array kit. Any protein/detection antibody complex present was bound by its cognate-immobilized capture antibody on the membrane. After washing to remove unbound materials, streptavidin-HRP and chemiluminescent

detection reagents were sequentially added. Light was produced at each spot in proportion to the amount of bound analyte. Data were captured by exposure to X-ray films. Array signals from the scanned X-ray film images were analyzed using Image J. The results were expressed as fold changes above or below the unexposed cultures. Evaluation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) DNA binding activity The nuclear extracts and DNA-binding activity of NF-κB in MHCC97H cells were prepared according to the instruction of Active Motif. Briefly, after treating HCC cells with cytokine CCL2 (chemokine C-C motif ligand 2, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, USA), IL-8 (interleukin-8, Sigma, Tokyo, Japan), and CXCL16 (chemokine C-X-C motif ligand 16, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, USA) for 24 h, MHCC97H cells were collected in ice-cold PBS with phosphate inhibitors and centrifuged at 500 rpm for 5 min. The pellets were resuspended and treated with a detergent. After removing the cytoplasmic fraction by centrifugation at 14 000 × g for 30 s, nuclei were harvested and lysed in lysis buffer with the protease inhibitor cocktail for nuclear protein extraction.