NOTCH1 and familial pancreatic carcinoma: In our study, when autophagy-related genes were knocked down in pancreatic cancer cells, β-catenin and Sonic Hedgehog expression was significantly decreased but Notch1 expression was not (Additional file 6: Figure S6), suggesting that autophagy may regulate pancreatic CSC activity by modulating Wnt/β-catenin and Hedgehog signaling.