HSPA9 and cancer: Unlike cancer, reduced expression of mortalin in normal cells under the influence of glucose deprivation activates cell death, however, overexpression of mortalin in these cells inhibits the Bax (pro-apoptotic protein) and reduces the cytochrome C release, one of the key mitochondrial proteins and a master regulator of cell death (Liu et al., 2005), (Qu et al., 2012).