Fig. 4

SMAD3 enhances the radioresistance of NSCLC cells via ITGA6/PI3K/Akt pathway activation. A Analysis of the function of SMAD3 using GSEA based on the KEGG gene set. Different curves indicate different pathway names. B Analysis of the function of SMAD3 using GSEA based on the Hallmark gene set. Different curves indicate different pathway names. C A volcano map of the DEGs between the SMAD3 high (n = 98) and low expression groups (n = 98). Green indicates the downregulated genes, red indicates the upregulated genes, and black indicates un-differentially expressed genes. D A heat map of the top 20 DEGs between the SMAD3 high and low expression groups. Color scale from red to blue indicates gene expression from high to low. E A heat map of SMAD3-related genes. Color scale from red to green indicates gene expression from high to low. F A heat map of the DEGs in the GSE20549 dataset, with 6 SMAD3-related genes labeled. Color scale from red to green indicates gene expression from high to low. G Correlation of SMAD3 expression with ITGA6 expression in the GSE37745 dataset (n = 196). H The protein expression of ITGA6 in tumor tissues of NSCLC patients determined by immunohistochemistry. I Western blot of PI3K/Akt pathway-related proteins in tumor tissues of NSCLC patients (30 samples randomly selected from 120 samples). * p < 0.05