While in HCC cell line, SALL4 binds and upregulates the expression of OXPHOS genes and other mitochondrial genes to increase mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, which reveals the metabolic reprogramming function of SALL4 in tumorigenesis (Tan et al. 2019; Liu and Shyh-Chang 2019). Here, SALL4 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.