MAP3K4 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To further assess the effects of circMAP3K4 and circMAP3K4-455aa in HCC, we validated two short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs), sh-circMAP3K4-1 and sh-circMAP3K4-2, which specifically targeted circMAP3K4 but did not disturb the host MAP3K4 (Fig. 5C, S4A).