PELI1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: To validate this association, we analyzed PELI1 expression across 12 HCCDB datasets (HCCDB 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 18), which revealed consistent upregulation of PELI1 in HCC tissues relative to adjacent non-tumor tissues (Figure 4A).