Fig. 4

ZDHHC3 expression promotes an immunosuppressive TME in PAAD. A Heat map showing different expression levels of published immunomodulators signatures (MHC, immunostimulator, chemokine, and chemokine receptors) between high- and low-ZDHHC3 groups in PAAD patients. B The expression patterns of markers of anti-cancer immunity across a 7-step cancer-immunity cycle between high- and low-ZDHHC3 groups. C The association between ZDHHC3 gene and the infiltration degrees of five TIICs (CD8⁺ T cells, NK cells, macrophages, Th1 cells, and DC), based on different algorithms. D A differential heat map showing the comparison of the published effector gene profiles of indicated immune cells between high and low ZDHHC3 groups. The heat map color indicates the correlation coefficient. Yellow color, positive correlations; blue color, negative correlations. E Correlation between ZDHHC3 gene expression and 20 inhibitory immune checkpoints in PAAD samples. Color scales visualizes Spearman correlation coefficient values. Color codes in the heat map represent relative expression levels as z-scores. P-values were calculated using Mann–Whitney U test with asterisks (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and ****p<0.0001)