MELK knockdown and FABP5 overexpression in hepatoma SK-HEP1 and HCC-LM3 cells showed that MELK inhibited the Ub-mediated degradation of FABP5, stabilizing FABP5 protein expression and thereby increasing the phosphorylation of downstream Akt (Fig. 5k, Additional file 1: Fig. S8f). Here, AKT1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.