APLNR and hepatocellular carcinoma: In a recent study focusing on role of apelin in HCC, the findings showed that by binding to APJ, apelin could activate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, resulting in an increase in expression of phospho-glycogen synthase kinase 3β (p-GSK3β) and cyclin D1 (62).