RIPK2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In this study, we found ectopic expression of PIM2 in HCC cells did not significantly affect mRNA level or protein expression level of RIPK2 (Fig. 5e), however, PIM2 overexpression upregulated the phosphorylation level of RIPK2 compared to PIM2 knockdown and control cells in vivo (Fig. 5e, Supplementary Fig. 3B).