MAPK3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To explore the mechanisms by which TAOK1 deficiency suppresses lipotoxicity and metastatic capacity in human hepatocytes, we first monitored the phosphorylation of MAPKs extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and JNK, which are activated in human HCC.35 We observed significantly reduced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (Thr202/Tyr204) and JNK1/2 (Thr183/Tyr185) in IHHs transfected with TAOK1 siRNA versus NTC siRNA (Figure 8A, B).