SQSTM1 and neoplasm: Zheng et al. (2020) demonstrated that in HCT116 and HT29 cells, inhibiting PRDX2 reduced p38 phosphorylation, lowered the LC3II/I ratio, increased P62 expression, and decreased Beclin 1 expression, disrupting autophagy’s protective effect and increasing apoptosis. Conversely, Stramucci et al. (2019) found that silencing MKK3 decreased p38δ MAPK phosphorylation, reduced the late autophagosome marker p62/SQSTM1 levels, and increased the LC3II/LC3I ratio, inducing cellular autophagy and inhibiting tumor survival in HT29 and HCT-116 cells.