Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 2, 2026

Author Spotlight: Unveiling Transmembrane Protein Family-Related Markers in Gastric Cancer and Implications for Targeted Therapies
Published on: September 15, 2023
Identification of key pathways and genes in PTEN mutation prostate cancer by bioinformatics analysis
Jian Sun1, Shugen Li1, Fei Wang1
1Department of Urology, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 26 Daoqian Rd, Suzhou, 215000, Jiangsu, China.
Background:
Prostate cancer (Pca) remains one of the leading adult malignancies. PTEN (Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog) mutant is the top common mutated genes in prostate cancer, which makes it a promising biomarker in future individualized treatment.
Methods:
We obtained gene expression data of prostate cancer from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database for analysis. We analyzed the DEGs (differentially expressed genes), and used online tools or software to analyze Gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins, and Molecular Complex Detection.
Results:
Latest TCGA data showed PTEN mutation in about 22% patients. 1736 DEGs in total were identified. Results of gene functional enrichment analyses showed that muscle contraction, negative regulation of growth and multiple metabolic progression were significantly enriched. GNG13, ACTN2, POTEE, ACTA1, MYH6, MYH3, MYH7, MYL1, TNNC1 and TNNC2 were the top ten hub genes. Patients with PTEN mutation showed relatively decreased mRNA expression level of PTEN. Survival analysis indicated the risk of disease recurrence in patients with PTEN mutation.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggested that PTEN mutation in prostate cancer may induce changes in a variety of genes and pathways and affect disease progression, suggesting the significance of PTEN mutation in individualized treatment of prostate cancer.
Related Concept Videos
Protein Networks
These interactions can be represented through maps depicting protein-protein interaction networks, represented as nodes and edges. Nodes are circles that are representative of a protein,...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...

