Identifying and validating PLAU as a potential prognostic biomarker for PDAC

Figures

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  Fig. 1. Selection of 260 common DEGs from three datasets (GSE28375, GSE41372 and GSE62452) (A–C). Volcano plot of DEGs from the three datasets; (D). 165 DEGs are upregulated (logFC≥1); (E). 95 DEGs are downregulated (logFC<1).

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  Fig. 2. The top 20 GO and significantly enriched KEGG pathways. (A) BP; (B) CC; (C) MF; (D) KEGG pathways. The Y-axis represents remarkably enriched items. Conversely, the X-axis indicates the degree of enrichment; P-value is represented by the color of the dots, and the size of the dot indicates the number enriched genes.

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  Fig. 3. PPI network display and module analysis using STRING and Cytoscape. (A) Nodes indicate protein; edges indicate protein interactions; red circles show up-regulated DEGs, while blue ones represent down-regulated DEGs; (B) Module 1; (C) Module 2. Red circles indicate upregulated DEGs, while blue ones represent downregulated DEGs.

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  Fig. 4. Expression analysis of hub genes. (A) Comparison of the transcript levels of four genes in tumor (n = 179) and normal (n = 171) tissues via GEPIA 2; (B) Analysis of four genes expression levels from the TCGA database.

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  Fig. 5. Correlation between the OS and DFS of patients and the expression of four hub genes. (A–D). The OS of patients; (E–H). The DFS of patients.

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  Fig. 6. Relative mRNA expression of (A) COL12A1, (B) ITGA2, (C) MMP14 and (D) PLAU in SW1990, PANC-1 and BxPC-3 cells compared with that in HPDE6-C7 cells. * indicates P<0.05.

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  Fig. 7. IHC validation of hub gene expression from HPA. Staining showed the protein expressions of pivotal genes in the pancreatic cancer tissue samples than in the normal pancreatic tissue samples. To ensure homogeneity and reliability, we use the same antibody immunohistochemical pictures for display. The antibody information is as follows, COL12A1 (HPA009143), ITGA2 (HPA063556), MMP14 (HPA051432), PLAU (HPA070796).

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  Fig. 8. The effect of PLAU knockdown on pancreatic cancer cell phenotype. (A, B). Western blotting verification of PLAU knockdown effect in SW1990 and PANC-1 cells. (C, D). Effects of PLAU knockdown on proliferation of SW1990 and PANC-1 cells. (E–H). Effects of PLAU knockdown on colony formation of SW1990 and PANC-1 cells. (I–L). Effects of PLAU knockdown on apoptosis of SW1990 and PANC-1 cells.