Another trial, which used an in vitro model of paracrine interaction between HCC-cell lines (HepG2, SNU423) and HSC and investigated the regulatory mechanism that underlies keratin 19 (KRT19) expression in HCC, demonstrated that KRT 19 expression in HCC is orchestrated through fibroblast-derived hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) via a MET-ERK1/2-AP1 and SP1 signaling pathway [72]. Here, HGF is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.