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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 28, 2026; 32(12): 112725
Published online Mar 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i12.112725
Published online Mar 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i12.112725
Autophagy related RHEB-CSF1R complex promotes tumor metastasis via advancing phosphorylation levels of PI3K, AKT, mTOR in pancreatic cancer
Qian-Xi Deng, Long Zou, Yi-Ming Li, Department of Gastroenterology, The Third Hospital of Mianyang, Sichuan Mental Health Center, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China
Qian-Xi Deng, Kun Yang, Jin He, Jun-Feng Li, Xiao-Qing Li, Shu-Man Xu, Zheng Jiang, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400010, China
Lin-Ju Wu, Department of Anesthesiology, The Third Hospital of Mianyang, Sichuan Mental Health Center, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Zheng Jiang and Lin-Ju Wu.
Author contributions: Deng QX, Yang K, Wu LJ, and Jiang Z contributed to study conception and design; Deng QX, Yang K, He J, Li JF, Li XQ, Zou L, Li YM, and Xu SM contributed to data collection, analysis and interpretation of results; Deng QX, Yang K, and Wu LJ contributed to draft manuscript preparation; Wu LJ and Jiang Z contributed to critical revisions of the intellectual content, and contributed equally as co-corresponding authors; all authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by Sichuan Medical and Health Care Promotion Institute Youth Research Project, No. KY2023QN0129; Research Project of Early Gastrointestinal Cancer Physician Co-Growth Program, No. GTCZ-2023-SC-06; and The Third Hospital of Mianyang Research Project, No. 202206.
Institutional review board statement: This study was ratified by the Ethics Committee of the Third Hospital of Mianyang, No. 2023(56).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All experimental procedures involving animals were certified by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Chongqing Medical University, No. IACUC-CQMU-2023-0104.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and/or analyzed in this study are available in the Gene Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases.
Corresponding author: Lin-Ju Wu, Chief Physician, Department of Anesthesiology, The Third Hospital of Mianyang, Sichuan Mental Health Center, No. 190 East Jiannan Road, Youxian District, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China. wulinju2149@mysyy.cn
Received: September 3, 2025
Revised: October 21, 2025
Accepted: January 16, 2026
Published online: March 28, 2026
Processing time: 196 Days and 23.3 Hours
Revised: October 21, 2025
Accepted: January 16, 2026
Published online: March 28, 2026
Processing time: 196 Days and 23.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Ras homolog enriched in brain (RHEB), small GTPases, play a crucial role in regulating neuronal activity and have gained attention for their implications in cancer development, particularly in pancreatic cancer (PC). Clarifying the precise mechanism through which the autophagy-related gene RHEB promotes PC metastasis holds the potential for improving prognosis as well as for developing new prevention and treatment strategies. This study aims to elucidate the role of the autophagy-related gene RHEB in PC metastasis.