It is shown that miR-490-3p inhibits cell growth by inducing apoptosis and cell invasiveness and metastasis by repression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through targeting FRAT1, VDAC1 and TGFβR1 in CRC cells [22–24], SMARCD1 in GC [25] and BUB1 in HCC [26]. Here, VDAC1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.