FIGURE 4.

Western blotting for succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) A, SDHB, and nuclear factor E2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2). A, Case‐K, ‐L, ‐M: clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) without mutations of SDHA, SDHB, and von Hippel‐Lindau (VHL) genes. SDHA and SDHB are expressed to the same extent in non‐tumor (N) and tumor (T) tissues, or more prevalent in non‐tumor (N) tissues. Nrf2 are expressed to the same extent in non‐tumor (N) and tumor (T) tissues, or more prevalent in tumor (T) tissues. Case‐3, −4.1: ccRCC with SDHA and VHL gene mutation. SDHA, SDHB, and VHL are expressed lower in tumor (T) tissues, while Nrf2 are higher expressed in tumor (T) tissues. Case‐1, −9: ccRCC with SDHA gene mutation. SDHA and SDHB are expressed lower in tumor (T) tissues, and Nrf2 are abundant in tumor (T) tissues. Case‐P, ‐R: papillary renal cell carcinoma type 2 (pRCC2) without mutations of SDHA, SDHB and VHL genes. SDHA and SDHB are expressed to the same extent in non‐tumor (N) and tumor (T) tissues, or less in non‐tumor (N) tissues, and Nrf2 are increased in tumor (T) tissues. Case‐6: pRCC2 with SDHA gene mutation. The tumor (T) tissues show less reaction for anti‐SDHA and ‐SDHB antibodies, but strong reaction for anti‐Nrf2 antibody. B, C, D, The central line indicates the median value, the box shows the interquartile range, the bars display the full range, and the points are outliers. Ratio of the optical density of the tumor specimen to that of the corresponding non‐neoplastic specimen (set at 1.0) in western blotting for SDHA, SDHB, and Nrf2. E, F, G, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis. There was a positive correlation between expressions of SDHA and SDHB, and there was an inverse correlation between Nrf2 and SDHA or SDHB in the tumor tissues