Fig. 5: Expression profile and protein-protein network analyses of histology-specific proteins.

a Heatmap of 17 ACC-specific and 34 PBL-specific protein expression abundance of all samples, including PDAC and benign pancreatic tissue. Yellow boxes highlight specifically upregulated protein expression levels for ACC and PBL, respectively. b Boxplots of expressional differences of the 17 ACC- and 34 PBL-specific proteins relative to benign tissue are shown. For each protein, log2FC values of each tumor sample relative to benign tissue median values were calculated. The plot only shows boxplots (25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles marked as bottom, center, and upper lines) and whiskers (1.5 times the interquartile range) without outlier values. c Protein-protein interaction network of 17 ACC-specific proteins based on the STRING database, showing enrichment of mitochondria-related proteins. Node colors denote mitochondrion (blue), mitochondrial respiratory chain complex assembly (pink), and inherited metabolic disease (gray). White denotes no connected biological process. d Protein-protein interaction network of 34 PBL-specific proteins based on the STRING database. Node colors denote chromosome (red), cell cycle (green), regulation of cell cycle (dark green), and embryonic structure (yellow). White denotes no connected biological process.