Expression of the mfat-1 gene induced caspase-3-mediated cell apoptosis and inhibited GSK-3β phosphorylation in the Tca8113 cells. Expression of mfat-1 gene induced caspase-3 and caspase-9 cleavage, and reduced Tca8113 cell proliferation through reduction of GSK3β phosphorylation and subsequent downregulation of β-catenin expression. Caspase-3, caspase-9, GSK-3β, p-GSK-3β, β-catenin, p-Akt and Akt protein levels were examined by western blot. β-actin served as an equal loading control.