BCL2 and hepatocellular carcinoma: For example, sCLU inhibits mitochondrial apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma by suppressing the expression of Gadd45a, a negative regulator of pro-apoptotic properties of AKT, activating the PI3K/AKT axis and subsequently upregulating the expression of the apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) (Wang et al., 2018).