MAPK8 and hepatocellular carcinoma: CDCA2 promoted the proliferation of HCC cells by promoting G1/S transition through the upregulation and activation of CCND1/CDK4/6 and CCNE1/CDK2, enhanced the clonogenic ability, inhibited apoptosis in a p53/p21-dependent manner by inhibiting the p38 MAPK pathway and activating the JNK/c-Jun pathway, and promoted the migration of p53-mutant Huh7 cells by activating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.