Fig. 2.

GATA-4 is overexpressed in malignant meningioma. a Gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR of GATA-4 in meningioma tissues and ROC analysis is reported. GATA-4 levels were normalised to the mean of the WHO I specimens (n = 80). ROC analysis compares GATA-4 expression in WHO I vs. WHO II-III meningioma tumours (AUC and p value reported in figure, 95% confidence interval = 0•7552 to 0•9186). b Densitometry analysis and representative Western blot of GATA-4 in meningioma tumour lysates. WHO III tissues showed increased expression of GATA-4 compared to WHO I specimens (n = 5). c Representative images showing GATA-4 immunohistochemical staining in normal meninges (NMT, see black arrows), and WHO I, II, and III meningioma tumours. 200X magnification. Average score values for each cohort are reported. Single scores for the images reported in figure are as follows: NMT = 0; WHO I, top to bottom = 1, 1, 1; WHO II, top to bottom = 3, 3, 2; WHO III, top to bottom = 3, 3, 3. For single score values see Table S4 (samples represented in figure are highlighted in bold). d GATA-4 gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR in meningioma cells. Data have been normalised to the mean of WHO I PDMN cells (n = 25). e Densitometry analysis and representative Western blot of GATA-4 expression levels in meningioma cell lysates. f Densitometry analysis and representative Western blot of GATA-4 in normal human meningeal cells (HMC), the benign Ben-Men-1, and the malignant KT21-MG1 cell lines. g GATA-4 expression analysis by RT-qPCR in KT21-MG1 cells compared to Ben-Men-1. Data are reported as mean ± SEM (One-way ANOVA, Student's t-Test; NS = not significant; * = p<0•05, ** = p<0•01, *** = p<0•005). HMC, Ben-Men-1, and KT21-MG1 cell lines were profiled at three different passages to ensure result consistency. N numbers for WHO I, II, and III tumours, and PDMN cells are reported in figure.