Figure 1. CRP2 up-regulation is associated with a significantly higher risk of metastasis in basal-like breast cancer patients, and correlates with the mesenchymal phenotype in human breast cancer cell lines.

A. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses in relation to CSRP2 expression (affy ID 207030_s_at) in breast carcinoma from the basal subtype using distant metastasis free survival as an endpoint. The patient samples, hazard ratio with 95% confidence interval, and p value (Logrank test) are displayed on the chart. B. and C. CRP2 protein level in human breast cancer cell lines (B) and in MCF7-derived cells which underwent EMT through the expression of a constitutively active version of Snail (SNAIL S6A) or prolonged TNF treatment (1001; C). Relative CRP2 expression (lower panels) are calculated from at least three independent experiments and expressed as fold of CRP2 protein level in SKBR3 (B) or MCF7 cells (C). D. and E. Immunohistochemical staining of CRP2 in two cases of invasive ductal carcinoma showing strong staining in tumor cells (D), and faint staining in residual normal breast tissue (arrows; strongly stained tumor cells are indicated by asterisks; (E), respectively (magnification: 200x). Error bars denote standard error. Significant levels: *: p < 0.05 and **: p < 0.001 (unpaired, two-tailed t-test).