MAPK8 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Of note, hypoxia (via activation of HIF-1α transcription factor) and other intracellular signaling pathways (i.e., PI3K/AKT, JNK, ERK, PTEN, p53) have also been shown to regulate and drive the metabolic shift toward aerobic glycolysis of HCC cells (Iansante et al., 2015; Cassim et al., 2018).