A The RT-qPCR (SYBR Green) analysis on the levels of SOX6 mRNA in HeLa and SiHa cells that were treated with or without cisplatin (20 μM). β-Actin (ACTB) mRNA was used as the internal control. B Western blotting analysis on the protein levels of key molecules within MAPK/ERK and PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway in HeLa and SiHa cells that were treated with or without cisplatin (20 μM). α-tubulin protein was used as the internal control. C Western blotting analysis on the protein levels of SOX6, MAP4K4, PARP, Bax, Bcl-2, and p62/SQSTM1 in HeLa and CaSki cells treated with or without cisplatin (20 μM) treatment. D Flow cytometry analysis of apoptosis in two clones of HeLa-SOX6KO cells and the control HeLa cells (lenti-V2) with or without cisplatin (20 μM) treatment. E The percentage of apoptotic cells in flow cytometry analysis. F Western blotting analysis on the protein levels of PARP, caspase 9, Bax, and Bcl-2 in two clones of HeLa-SOX6KO cells and the control HeLa cells (lenti-V2) cells with or without cisplatin (20 μM) treatment. G Representative immunofluorescent staining of SOX6 (green) and MAP4K4 (red) or p62/SQSTM1 (red) in samples collected from 14 cervical cancer patients with routine cisplatin treatment. H Relative expression level of SOX6 indicated by fluorescent density. I Relative expression level of MAP4K4 indicated by fluorescent density. J Relative expression level of SOX6 indicated by fluorescent density. K Relative expression level of p62/SQSTM1 indicated by fluorescent density. Data are the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments or at least three fields scored (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, Student’s t-test, two tails for A, E, one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests for H–K). IOD, integral optical density.