SPINK13 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In addition, in HCC nude mice with subcutaneously implanted tumors, SPINK13 was similarly able to inhibit the PI3K/Akt pathway by downregulating the level of p-Akt and downregulating the expression or phosphorylation of cell cycle regulatory proteins and activating the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway (Fig. 5C–E).