Finally, to validate our hypothesis that transcription factor SP1-mediated STK39 upregulation promotes the progression of HCC cells, we co-transfected shRNA-STK39 and pcDNA3.1-SP1 into cells to overexpress SP1, and then evaluated the effects of STK39 silencing on HCC cells proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT. This evidence concerns the gene STK39 and hepatocellular carcinoma.