Fig. 6: Glutamine metabolism and PD-L1 expression are regulated by the HMGB1–RICTOR epigenetic crosstalk effects on the mTOR pathway.

a Western blot showing the levels of AKT and mTOR phosphorylation in treated HCC cell lines. b, c mRNA (b) and protein (c) levels of enzymes related to glutamine metabolism were determined by qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. d GS activity was measured using a colorimetric kit in indicated HCC cells. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. e Glutamine concentrations in cell culture supernatants from treated HCC cells were determined. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. f Western blot analysis comparing P70S6K and PD-L1 levels in the indicated HCC cells