HK2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In hepatocellular carcinoma, limonin promotes a translocation of HK2 from mitochondria to the cytoplasm by inhibiting Akt-mediated phosphorylation of HK2, thereby reducing HK2 activity, further activating BAX, and causing the release of the apoptotic factor cytochrome c (Yao et al., 2018a).