Fig. 3: Cell cycle signature association with stemness and telomere lengthening mechanisms.

a Summary proteomic heatmap of cell cycle signatures. On the right side, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between KEGG cell cycle signature scores and the corresponding molecule/pathways are shown as bars (* indicates statistical significance). b Stemness score for each group. The stemness score is upregulated in all entities. PBL, which is a childhood cancer, shows the highest average score (Mann–Whitney U test). The box represents the 25th to 75th percentiles, with the median marked by a central line. Whiskers represent 1.5 times the interquartile range, and outliers are shown as individual dots. c Hallmark DNA repair score for each group. The DNA repair score is significantly elevated in ACC and PBL (Mann–Whitney U test). The box represents the 25th to 75th percentiles, with the median marked by a central line. Whiskers represent 1.5 times the interquartile range, and outliers are shown as individual dots. d KEGG pathway scores for four major DNA repair pathways are shown (Mann–Whitney U test). The box represents the 25th to 75th percentiles, with the median marked by a central line. Whiskers represent 1.5 times the interquartile range, and outliers are shown as individual dots. e, f Telomerase-dependent pathway scores (TelNET_TEL) and telomerase-independent pathway scores (TelNET_ALT) for each group. PBL has the highest average scores for both pathways (Mann–Whitney U test). The box represents the 25th to 75th percentiles, with the median marked by a central line. Whiskers represent 1.5 times the interquartile range, and outliers are shown as individual dots. g ALT/TEL score ratio for each group. Compared to benign tissue and PDAC, ACC and PBL show stronger dependence on the ALT pathway (Mann–Whitney U test). The box represents the 25th to 75th percentiles, with the median marked by a central line. Whiskers represent 1.5 times the interquartile range, and outliers are shown as individual dots.