The results showed a strong enrichment of MBD3 binding around the TFPI2 transcription start site (TSS, 5# region), and the luciferase activity of the TFPI2-luc was significantly increased in MBD3-knockdown cells compared with that of the control cells, indicating that MBD3 functions as an upstream transcriptional regulator of TFPI2 in HCC. The gene discussed is TFPI2; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.