SMAD3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In addition, that dihydromyricetin-induced ROS downregulation was demonstrated to activate caspase-9 and trigger PARP cleavage, leading to apoptotic cell death in human hepatoma HepG2 cells [50], and that the flavonoid dihydromyricetin reportedly induced apoptosis in Hepal-6 hepatoma cells by reducing ROS generation via the TGF-β/Smad3 pathway [51].