FIGURE 1.

Reduced expression of KLF4 is associated with the dedifferentiation of ESCC. A, example case showed the expression of KLF4 in esophageal tumors by immunohistochemisry staining on the tissue microarray. Representative pictures of KLF4 in normal esophageal epithelium ➀, well differentiated ➁, moderately differentiated ➂, and poorly differentiated ➃ carcinoma tissues are shown (bar, 15 μm). Quantitative analysis of the KLF4 staining between ESCC tissues and the matched normal esophageal epithelia are shown on the right. B, KYSE150 cells were transiently transfected with pcDNA3.1 and pcDNA3.1-KLF4 vector. 48 h later, RT-PCR analysis was performed to examine mRNA expression of KLF4 and a selected group of terminal differentiation genes as indicated. GAPDH was used as internal control. The band intensities of mRNA expression level were quantified by densitometry and normalized against GAPDH. The data represent the means ± S.D. *, p < 0.05.