ACKR3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Notably, inhibition of CXCR7 expression by transfection with CXCR7-short hairpin RNA (shRNA) could significantly inhibit HCC cells and tumor endothelial cells proliferation, invasion, migration and angiogenesis (Zheng et al., 2010; Zhao et al., 2017; Wu et al., 2018).