The authors observed that R-Tf-D-LP4 induced cell energy perturbation and antagonized VDAC1 for the interaction with Bcl- 2, Bcl-xL and hexokinase II (HK) thus inducing apoptosis in diethylnitrosamine-induced HCC, metabolically (high-fat diet-32) induced HCC, and subcutaneous Hep-G2 cell xenograft mice models. Here, VDAC1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.