CTSB and hepatocellular carcinoma: Later, in a 2012 study, in the process of hepatocellular carcinoma human mesenchymal stem cells differentiating into hepatocytes, cathepsin B and D, inorganic pyrophosphatase, phosphotriglycan isomerase, adenine phosphoribosyltransferase, lactate dehydrogenase β-chain, peptidylprolyl cis-trans isomerase A, and 11 other proteins in the Wnt pathway, the expression of hepatocytes activated by the β-catenin pathway was upregulated, indicating that cathepsin B and D are closely related to autophagy, as mediated by the Wnt/β-catenin pathway (68).