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. 2014 Oct 30;9(10):e111819. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111819

Figure 5. Signaling pathways in which the candidate genes are involved.

Figure 5

An extensive literature search revealed that the candidate genes are cross-linked to 3 signaling pathways: NF-κB, Akt and MAPK, which all play a role in cancer. NF-κB signaling pathway has a crucial role in regulating immune responses, whereas Akt signaling has been shown to inhibit the growth of GBM cells and GBM stem-like cells that may also be impaired by MAPK signaling disruption. Because of the RT-qPCR results, CTSK's role has been examined and it was found via cross linking to other candidate genes obtained via osteopontin (OPN) gene functions.