Fig. 4.

Analysis of SULF1, MST1, GTF2i, NHSL1, GRN, and SREBF2 expression in CRC tissues. A, Meta-analysis of gene expression levels corresponding to the proteins homologous to the phage-displayed peptides was assessed by using the Oncomine database. p values are also indicated. Relative gene expression levels were found for NHSL1, SREBF2, GTF2i, SULF1, MST1, and GRN. B, Western blot analysis of SULF1 and MST1 overexpression in tumoral cell lines and paired cancer tissues corresponding to stages A(I), B(II), and C(III). Tubulin was used as a control. C, Tissue microarray data of GTF2i and GRN expression were retrieved from the Human Protein Atlas. D, MST1/STK4 and SULF1 showed intense cytoplasmic staining in well-differentiated enteroid adenocarcinoma of the right colon, whereas normal colonic mucosa far from the tumor was not stained with the antibody. As internal control, we used the positivity of the inflammatory cells in the lamina propria (MST1/STK4 intense staining and SULF1 mild staining). Images were taken at a 200× magnification. E, Immunohistochemistry results for MST1/STK4 and SULF1 in CRC tissue and the normal mucosa of 25 CRC patients were quantified by two pathologists according to the following criteria: 0, no staining; 1, weak staining; 2, normal staining; 3, strong staining. Error bars represent the S.D. of the assay. p values are indicated.