VEGFA and ovarian cancer: However, in ovarian cancer, the mechanisms by which TRAP1 induces EMT to regulate cell migration are at least partially independent of the p70S6K pathway (19), consistent with the results of the above mentioned study by Agliarulo et al. Furthermore, activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway upregulates the expression of HIF-1α (64), thus triggering the transcription of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA and increasing VEGF expression (65), which in turn enables endothelial cells to migrate to form new blood vessels and increase the blood supply to tumor cells.