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Wnt/β‐catenin signaling is indispensable for many biological processes, including embryonic development, cell cycle, inflammation, and carcinogenesis. Aberrant activation of the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling can promote tumorigenicity and enhance metastatic potential in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Targeting this pathway is a new opportunity for precise medicine for HCC. However, inhibiting Wnt/β‐catenin signaling alone is unlikely to significantly improve HCC patient outcome due to the lack of specific inhibitors and the complexity of this pathway. Combination with other therapies will be an important next step in improving the efficacy of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling inhibitors. Protein kinases play a key and evolutionarily conserved role in the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling and have become one of the most important drug targets in cancer. Targeting Wnt/β‐catenin signaling and its regulatory kinase together will be a promising HCC management strategy. In this review, we summarize the kinases that modulate the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in HCC and briefly discuss their molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, we list some small molecules that target the kinases and may inhibit Wnt/β‐catenin signaling, to offer new perspectives for preclinical and clinical HCC studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural compounds have been confirmed as one of the most feasible solutions for hard-to-treat cancers such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Erianin, a natural bibenzyl compound from Dendrobium chrysotoxum , has been recently discovered with anticancer property in cancer cells. However, the roles and the molecular mechanisms of erianin in HCC remain unknown. The present study evaluates the effect of erianin on human HCC cells by inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptotic-related cell death and hampering tumorigenicity. Furthermore, it was found that erianin could cause irreparable DNA damage, induce G2/M arrest and deregulate mitotic regulators. It was also observed that many cells with damaged DNA induced by erianin could overcome G2/M arrest and enter mitosis, leading to abnormal mitosis, and subsequently mitotic catastrophe and apoptotic-related cell death. The present study confirmed that erianin could be a potential antitumor agent for HCC clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]