The induction of 4E-BP3 mRNA occurred in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2, but 4E-BP3 mRNA was not detected in three other human cell lines: HEK293T, HeLa and 786-O, even upon mTOR inhibition (Supplementary Fig. 3a). Here, EIF4EBP3 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.