To further investigate whether the peroxisomal HMGCR localization is a general phenomenon observed under conditions of low cholesterol and statin treatment, we investigated differentiated human monocyte-derived U937 cells, human microglia-like CHME-3 cells, the hepatoma cell line HepG2 as well as HeLa and HEK-293 cells, all after 3 days of cultivation in lipid-depleted media and 16 h of lovastatin treatment. This evidence concerns the gene HMGCR and hepatocellular carcinoma.