The findings demonstrated that in HepG2 and Huh-7 HCC cells, the number of autophagosomes in the shEMP2#2 group cells was significantly reduced compared to the control group, further corroborating the concept that downregulation of EMP2 expression inhibits autophagy in HCC cells (Fig. 6A). Here, EMP2 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.