Flap endonuclease-1 promotes pancreatic cancer progression via AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Figure 6 Flap endonuclease-1 modulation regulates the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer. A: Bubble plot representation of KEGG pathway enrichment analysis for genes differentially co-expressed with flap endonuclease-1 (FEN1) in pancreatic cancer. Bubble size indicates gene count; color intensity represents significance level (-log10 P value); B: GSEA enrichment plot showing correlation between FEN1 co-expressed genes and the mTOR signaling pathway (nominal P value and false discovery rate are indicated); C-F: Western blot analysis of key AKT/mTOR signaling pathway components in PATU8988T and PANC-1 cells following FEN1 knockdown or overexpression. Phosphorylation status and total protein levels were assessed for AKT, mTOR, and downstream effectors. Protein expression was normalized to appropriate loading controls. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001.