GSK2126458 has the potential to inhibit the proliferation of pancreatic cancer uncovered by bioinformatics analysis and pharmacological experiments

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most serious digestive malignancies. At present, there is an extreme lack of effective strategies in clinical treatment. The purpose of this study is to identify key genes and pathways in the development of pancreatic cancer and provide targets for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. METHODS: GSE15471 and GSE62165 were used to screen differentially expressed genes by GEO2R tool. Hub genes prognostic potential assessed using the GEPIA and Kaplan–Meier plotter databases. The drug susceptibility data of pan-cancer cell lines is provided by The Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer Project (GDSC). Finally, the effects of PI3K–Akt signaling pathway inhibitors on cell viability of pancreatic cancer cells were detected by cell proliferation and invasion assays. RESULTS: A total of 609 differentially expressed genes were screened and enriched in the focal adhesion, phagosome and PI3K–Akt signaling pathway. Of the 15 hub genes we found, four were primarily associated with the PI3K–Akt signaling pathway, including COL3A1, EGF, FN1 and ITGA2. GDSC analysis showed that mTOR inhibitors are very sensitive to pancreatic cancer cells with mutations in EWSR1.FLI1 and RNF43. Cell proliferation and invasion results showed that mTOR inhibitors (GSK2126458) can inhibit the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that the PI3K–Akt signaling pathway may be a key pathway for pancreatic cancer, our study uncovered the potential therapeutic potential of GSK2126458, a specific mTOR inhibitor, for pancreatic cancer. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-021-03050-7.