Fig. 3

A Molecular docking analyses revealed that L-741626 binds to Ref-1. B DARTS assay demonstrated the binding of L-741626 to the target protein Ref-1 in Huh7 cells. C–E Analysis of the TCGA database revealed that Ref-1 was highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and was associated with both patient prognosis and disease stage. F Immunohistochemistry of tumour and adjacent tissue sections from HCC patients confirmed that Ref-1 is highly expressed in the tumour tissues. G Ref-1 was knocked down in Huh7 and HepG2 cells and the knockdown efficiency was assessed using RT‒qPCR. Cell viability was measured using a CCK-8 assay. The data are represented as means ± SDs; * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001