MTDH and hepatocellular carcinoma: A modest, but reproducible 44% decrease in levels of cleaved caspase-3 was seen in AEG-1-over-expressing SMMC-7721 cells, whereas knockdown of AEG-1 in MHCC-97H and HCC-LM3 cells reproducibly caused 32% and 25% increase in cleaved caspase-3 (Fig. 3D).