Top-ranked terms from functional analyses of Pitx1-dependent genes have included the extracellular matrix during hindlimb development, and differentially expressed gene analysis between control and PITX1-overexpressing osteosarcoma genes also categorized the extracellular matrix and PI3K/Akt in the top 20 KEGG pathways (Nemec et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2023). This evidence concerns the gene AKT1 and osteosarcoma.