ADRB2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Due to the appearance of a spindle-like mesenchymal morphology following the treatment of HCC cells with ISO, we assumed that the β2-AR-mediated activation of YB-1 elicits epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a key step in the metastasis of epithelial tumours, including HCC (Fig. 4a).