In an endeavor to delineate the underlying mechanism by which PLEC regulates the adhesive properties of ovarian cancer cells, an investigation was conducted into various proteins that are reported to associated with PLEC on STRING (https://cn.string-db.org/), The findings revealed a multitude of proteins that interact with PLEC, including RPS15, COL17A1, ITGβ4, SYNE3 and CASP8 etc. Notably, the strongest correlations at the protein level were established between PLEC and COL17A1, ITGβ4, CASP8 at protein level (Fig. 6D). The gene discussed is COL17A1; the disease is ovarian cancer.