KEGG pathway analysis showed that upregulated DEGs were obviously abundant in signalling pathways regulating pluripotency of stem cells, mTOR signalling pathway, Hippo signalling pathway, RNA degradation, hepatocellular carcinoma, adrenergic signalling in PI3K–Akt signalling pathway, melanogenesis pathway and other pathways (Additional file 2: Fig. S2i). This evidence concerns the gene AKT1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.