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Objective To investigate the effect of high keratin 23 （KRT23） expression promoting cell proliferation on liver cancer. Methods The expression of KRT23 in liver cancer was analyzed by bioinformatics. After overexpression and inhibition of KRT23， the effect of KRT23 on the proliferation of liver cancer cells was analyzed by MTT and clone formation assay. The regulatory relationship between KRT23 and AKT signaling pathway was analyzed by software prediction， qPCRand Western blot. Results The expression level of KRT23 in liver cancer was significantly higher than that in normal control tissues. MTT and clone formation assay showed that overexpression of KRT23 promoted cell proliferation， while downregulation of KRT23 inhibited cell proliferation. GSEA analysis， qPCR and Western blot showed that KRT23 could activate the AKT signaling pathway and promote cell proliferation. Meanwhile， inhibition of AKT signaling pathway in overexpressing KRT23 cells significantly reduced cell proliferation. Conclusions KRT23 affects the proliferation of liver cancer cells by regulating the AKT signaling pathway. These results suggest that KRT23 exerts significant effects upon the malignant procession of liver cancer and may play an important role in the occurrence and development of liver cancer.