Fig. 5

B3GALNT2 regulates the transcription of enzymes involved in acetoacetate-related metabolism. a The correlations of all genes from TCGA-LIHC dataset with B3GALNT2. b KEGG pathway enrichment for all the genes conferring strong correlation with B3GALNT2 (Spearman |R| > 0.3 and Pearson |R| > 0.3). c The co-expression network of B3GALNT2 based on correlated genes from TCGA-LIHC database. d Correlation between B3GALNT2 and BDH2 expression in TCGA-LIHC dataset. e Protein and mRNA levels of BDH2 in HCC cells with B3GALNT2 overexpression or knockdown. f Knockdown efficiency of BDH2 in 7402 cell lines determined by real-time PCR and Western blot. g Secreted acetoacetate levels from 7402 cells with BDH2 knockdown and/or B3GALNT2 overexpression determined by targeted metabolomic analysis. h Macrophage recruitment assessment in transwell assays using 7402 cells with BDH2 knockdown and/or B3GALNT2 overexpression. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, n.s. not significant