The Mst1-JNK pathway is a regulator of mitochondrial homeostasis in metastatic liver cancer cells, and matrine can activate the Mst1-JNK pathway, significantly upregulating JNK phosphorylation and Mst1 expression, leading to mitochondrial fission and apoptosis of liver cancer cells (Cao et al., 2019). This evidence concerns the gene MAPK8 and liver cancer.