Fig. 2

Suppression of HMGB1 increases the sensitivity to sorafenib in HepG2 cells (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01). Ai qPCR and Aii western blotting results show that the expression of HMGB1 in HepG2 cells transfected with HMGB1 shRNA (Plvx-sh HMGB1) is significantly lower than that in sh-control HepG2 cells (Plvx-sh Control). B The impact of the HMGB1 knockdown on drug sensitivity at different sorafenib doses as determined by a CCK-8 assay. Plvx-sh HMGB1 cells showed an increased sensitivity to sorafenib at 5 μM. C Plvx-sh HMGB1 knockdown and Plvx-sh Control HepG2 cells were treated with 5 μM sorafenib (treatment) or the same volume of DMSO (control) for 48 h. Annexin V positive cells, consisting of both early and late apoptotic cells, were counted. D Expression levels of the apoptosis-related protein c-PARP were examined by western blotting