Fig. 7. EZH2-R342 methylation positive correlates with metastasis and poor prognosis of breast cancer patients.
a–c IHC assays among breast cancer specimens (TMA) were performed using anti-PRMT1, anti-meR342-EZH2 and anti-EZH2 antibodies. Semiquantitative scoring method (using a scale from 0 to 12) was used to analyzed the scores of PRMT1, meR342-EZH2 and EZH2 IHC staining. d–g Representative images of PRMT1, meR342-EZH2 and EZH2 expressions in PRMT1-low case and PRMT1-high case were presented (d). Correlation between PRMT1 and meR342-EZH2 expression (e), PRMT1 and EZH2 expression (f), meR342-EZH2 and EZH2 (g) were examined by Pearson correlation coefficient test, respectively. h–j Correlation between PRMT1 and meR342-EZH2 expression (h), PRMT1 and EZH2 expression (i), meR342-EZH2 and EZH2 (j) were examined by Fisher’s exact test, respectively. k Representative images of weak and strong meR342-EZH2 staining in breast cancer tissues. l–q Percentages of high level of meR342-EZH2 expression correlated with tumor sizes (l), histologic grades (m), different tumor subtypes (n–p) and metastasis (q) were examined by χ2 test. r Correlation of meR342-EZH2 expression with lymph node metastasis number. s High meR342-EZH2 expression correlated with a poorer 5-year overall survival for 120 breast cancer patients (High meR342-EZH2 patients 68, Low meR342-EZH2 patients 52) (P = 0.006, log-rank test). t High meR342-EZH2 expression correlated with a poorer 5-year disease-specific survival for 112 breast cancer patients (High meR342-EZH2 patients 60, Low meR342-EZH2 patients 52) (P = 0.001, log-rank test). See patients information in Supplementary Tables 2–4. u A proposed work model for this project.