TARBP2 was shown to be downregulated through an autophagic–lysosomal pathway, and we observed that the HCC/SR cells exhibited greater autophagosome formation than the parental cells (Fig. 4C,E,G), suggesting that autophagy activity is increased in Huh7/SR cells to enhance TARBP2 protein degradation. This evidence concerns the gene TARBP2 and hepatocellular carcinoma.