WNK2 and cancer: Given that nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), phosphoinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) play crucial roles in cancer cell survival and proliferation18–21, they were examined in HepG2 cells by immunoblotting.