Fig. 2. Inverse relationship between ileal and cancer immune tonus in CC models.

A Volcano plots of the differential immune gene transcription in qPCR of ileum (A) and colon (B) mucosae contrasting stage I–II versus stage III–IV pCC patients (TNM staging system). Volcano plots were generated computing for each gene product expressed in intestinal mucosae of 83 pCC patients: (i) the log₂ of fold change (FC) among the mean relative abundances of transcripts after normalization in early versus advanced disease stages (x axis); (ii) the co-log₁₀ of P values deriving from Mann–Whitney U test calculated on relative abundances in absolute values (y axis). Green and gray dots are considered significant (P < 0.062) or not (P > 0.062), respectively. B Representative micrographs of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)- stained sections of intestinal samples collected from Zeb2^IEC-Tg/+ mice showing different tumor progression. Scale bar: 50 µm. C Relative expression of immune genes in ilea of Zeb2^IEC-Tg/+ mice and WT littermates as assessed by RT-qPCR. One dot represents one ileum and the pooled data of all ilea are shown. Mean ± SEM are depicted. Mann–Whitney U test P values are shown. D Relative expression of immune genes in ilea and colon of MC38-bearing mice WT versus naive WT mice as assessed by RT-qPCR. One dot represents one ileum or one colon and the pooled data of all ilea or colons are shown. Mean ± SEM are depicted. Mann–Whitney U test P values are shown.