DAB2IP and hepatocellular carcinoma: Furthermore, both F344 and BN rat strains showed a gradual increase of apoptosis driven by RassF1A/Nore1A/Mst1 (Ras association domain family 1A/novel Ras effector 1A/mammalian sterile twenty kinase 1) in DNs and HCCs, with the highest levels of gene expression and apoptosis in BN rat HCC, whereas loss of Dab2IP (Dab2-interacting protein), a protein implicated in Ask1 (apoptosis signal regulating kinase 1)-dependent cell death, was only found in F344 rat malignant lesions [62] (Figure 4).