To explore the KEGG pathway linked to matrine-induced toxicity and apoptosis, we screened 35 relevant signaling pathways from 309 KEGG pathways, including cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, PI3K-Akt pathway, Prion diseases, MAPK pathway, JAK-STAT pathway, P53 pathway, TNF pathway, FoxO pathway, HIF-1 pathway, Rap1 pathway, cAMP pathway, Ras pathway, Toll-like receptor pathway, mTOR pathway, TGF-beta pathway and NF-κB pathway (Fig 2C). This evidence concerns the gene MTOR and prion disease.