Based on this hypothesis, we investigated such signaling in human clinical samples by using IHC staining, and found that compared to the sorafenib-sensitive tissues, sorafenib-resistant HCC tissues showed significantly lower activation of AKT/mTOR, but increased expression of PP2A and LC3-II (Fig. 5d–h). The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.