Fig. 1

Tumor suppressor proteins: Liver tissues from control animals (MUP-uPA/SCID/bg mice engrafted with human hepatocytes but not infected with HCV), HCC-negative mice (engrafted and HCV infected mice that did not develop HCC), and HCC positive mice (engrafted and HCV infected) were examined by Western blotting with monoclonal antibodies against PTEN, Phospho-Akt or Cyclin D1. Panels (a) and (c) show representative Western blots of nuclear protein fraction (with Lamin B1 as loading control); and panel (b) is representative Western blot of corresponding cytoplasmic fraction (with GAPDH as loading control). Liver tissues were homogenized with RIPA buffer, and 30 microgram total proteins per lane were resolved by SDS-PAGE, and immunoblotted with antibodies as described before [11]. Panel (d) represents quantitative assessment (fold change) of nuclear or cytoplasmic PTEN (PTEN-N, PTEN-C); cytoplasmic p-Akt or nuclear Cyclin-D1 from the liver tissues. Quantitation was based on 12 controls, 7 HCC negative and 13 HCC positive liver tissues, analyzed in three independent SDS-PAGE runs. The Western blots were normalized to the internal “loading” controls (Lamin-B1 for nuclear and GADH for cytoplasmic fractions) (*p < 0.05)