Fig. 1.

Ankyrin repeat and suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) box protein 3 (ASB3) is generally down-regulated in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and cell lines. ASB3 expression was detected by immunohistochemical (IHC), real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and Western blotting assays in CRC tissues (a, b, c, d and e) and cell lines (f and g). a Representative images of IHC staining for ASB3 in CRC tissues. ASB3 protein expression levels were divided into 4 levels: I₀, negative; I₁, weak staining; I₂, moderate staining; I₃, strong staining. The scale bar represents 50μm. b ASB3 protein levels (H score) determined by IHC assay in 274 pairs of CRC and corresponding normal mucosal tissues (***P < 0.001). c IHC H-scores ordered from low to high respectively. d The relative mRNA levels of ASB3 in 48 pairs of CRC and corresponding normal mucosal tissues (normalized against that of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [GAPDH] internal control; *P = 0.016). e ASB3 protein levels detected by Western blotting assay in 12 pairs of CRC tissues (T) and corresponding normal mucosal tissues (N). GAPDH was used as a loading control. f ASB3 mRNA levels detected by qPCR in normal intestinal epithelial cell line FHC and 8 CRC cell lines (***P < 0.001 compared with FHC cells). g ASB3 protein levels detected by Western blotting assay in cell lines; GAPDH was used as a loading control