Previous studies, performed in rat HCC cells, showed that BzATP induced large fast-desensitizing inward currents using patch-clamp recording and a rapid extracellular Ca2+ influx using Ca2+ imaging, and the P2X4 receptor and possibly the P2X7 receptor were thought to mediate such responses [39]. This evidence concerns the gene P2RX7 and hepatocellular carcinoma.