We recently demonstrated that the transcriptional coactivators MKL1 and 2 mediate the effects of loss of the tumour suppressor DLC1: lack of DLC1 leads to nuclear localization of MKL1/2 in primary human HCC cells, resulting in constitutive activation of several tumour-relevant MKL target genes (Muehlich et al, 2012). This evidence concerns the gene DLC1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.