PTEN and hepatocellular carcinoma: Therefore, SPINK13 may initially prevent or diminish the cleavage of Notch1 by interacting with Furin and inhibiting its activity, subsequently causing downregulation of Hes1 expression, upregulation of PTEN expression, and inactivation of the PI3K/Akt pathway, which mediate the mitochondrial apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HCC cells triggered by SPINK13, as well as the inhibition of EMT.