In hepatocellular carcinoma cells, SENP1 induces stemness-related genes expression such as Oct3/4, Nanog, NOTCH1 and BMI-1 through enhancing the stability and transcriptional activity of HIF-1α, ultimately leading to cancer cell self-renewal (Cui et al., 2017). This evidence concerns the gene SENP1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.