MMP9 and hepatocellular carcinoma: The results showed that over-expression of DACH1 suppressed Hep-2 cell growth and invasion, which was in agreement with previous studies that showed that low-expression of DACH1 promoted the activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 through TGF-β signaling to promote invasion in gastric cancer [23] and high-expression of DACH1 blocked Wnt pathway to suppress viability and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma [24].