Fig. 8

The putative model of the mechanism by which PTEN regulates the invasiveness of pNETs via DUSP19-mediated VEGFR3 dephosphorylation. PTEN positively regulates DUSP19 expression. DUSP19 binds directly to VEGFR3 to dephosphorylate it. Low expression of PTEN induces downregulation of DUSP19 and suppresses DUSP19-mediated dephosphorylation of VEGFR3, which leads to increased VEGFR3 phosphorylation and activation of its downstream ERK signaling pathway and EMT molecules (vimentin and SLUG) to enhance tumor invasiveness