Consistent with our results in retinal cells in hyperglycemic milieu, others have shown that in hepatoma HepG2 cells, MALAT1 functions as an epigenetic factor in the regulation of mitochondrial metabolism, and its binding to mtDNA epigenetically regulates mitochondrial structure and function, including oxidative phosphorylation, mitophagy, and apoptosis [49]. Here, MALAT1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.