Meanwhile, silencing of Aurora-A could lead to the decreased expression of p-Akt and Bcl-2 proteins in SMMC-7721 cells and the increased expression of Bax and cleaved caspase-3 proteins in HepG2 cells, while overexpression of Aurora-A could induce the opposite effects in HCC cells. The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.