【Objective】To investigate the effect of KIF23 gene expression on the proliferation，migration and invasion of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells in vitro，and to explore the possible mechanism.【Methods】The KIF23 siRNA was transfected into HepG2 cells by lipofectamine 3000. The expression of KIF23 mRNA and protein in HepG2 cells was de? tected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. The effect of silencing KIF23 on the proliferation of HepG2 cells was studied by CCK- 8 assay and plate clone formation assay. The tumor cell abilities of migration and invasion after transfection were measured by scratch assay and Transwell assay. The expression of protein kinase B（PKB/Akt）and phosphorylated Akt（p-Akt）protein in HepG2 cells transfected with KIF23-siRNA2 was detected by Western blot.【Results】KIF23-siRNA could effectively si? lence the expression of KIF23 mRNA and protein in HepG2 cells（P<0.01）.The results of CCK-8 assay，plate clone forma? tion assay，scratch assay and Transwell assay demonstrated that the cell proliferation，migration and invasion ability of the KIF23-siRNA2 interference group were significantly inhibited，compared to the negative control group and the blank control group（P<0.05）. The expression level of total Akt protein in HepG2 cells was not changed，but the expression level of phos?phorylated Akt protein was down-regulated（P<0.05）.【Conclusions】KIF23 may promote the proliferation，migration and in? vasion of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells by activating Akt signal transduction pathway. KIF23 is expected to be a new target for gene therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.