Skip to main content
Figure 6 | Molecular Cancer

Figure 6

From: The ERK MAP kinase-PEA3/ETV4-MMP-1 axis is operative in oesophageal adenocarcinoma

Figure 6

Correlative expression of PEA3, ER81, MMP-1 with high levels of ERK signaling in oesophageal tissue specimens. (A) Heat map of the relative mRNA levels of PEA3, ER81, MMP1 and MMP7 in the oesophageal tissue samples. Samples are categorized as "normal" (light grey dots) or from patients with Barrett's disease (dark grey dots) or oesophageal adnenocarcinomas (black dots). Expression was defined as mRNA levels more than one standard deviation above the mean for the normal samples for each gene. Basal levels are anything below this value (turquoise rectangles). Expression was then divided into three categories relative to the mean for the normal samples; high expression was anything more than 100 fold (red rectangles), medium was between 25-100 fold (orange rectangles) and low was up to 25 fold (yellow rectangles) over the mean. The primary data for individual samples is shown in additional file 1: figures S1 and S2. Groups of samples showing increased expression of MMP-1 and either PEA3 or ER81 relative to basal levels are bracketed. (B and C) Histograms correlating the number of patients with AJCC stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 disease and phospho-ERK (P-ERK) and PEA3 protein levels. (B) The number of patient samples showing the presence or absence of P-ERK is correlated with each disease stage. Positive ERK MAP kinase signalling is defined as more than 5% tumour cells staining positive for P-ERK at intensity 3-4. (C) Patients with a combination of high and low P-ERK levels and high and low PEA3 protein expression are correlated with either early stage disease (1&2; grey bars) or late stage disease (3&4; black bars). High PEA3 protein is defined as more than 5% tumour cells staining positive at intensity 4. Data are presented as the percentage of patients within each group representing the indicated combinations of P-ERK and PEA3 levels. (D) Box plots of MMP1 mRNA expression in oesophageal tissue taken from oesophageal adenocarcinoma patients. The data are grouped according to the presence or absence of high P-ERK levels and/or increased levels of PEA3 and/or ER81 (defined as mRNA levels more than two standard deviations above the mean for the normal samples for each gene). Median relative expression levels of MMP-1 are indicated for each combination of P-ERK and PEA3/ER81. mRNA expression is calculated relative to 18S ribosomal RNA. The box plot represents the inter-quartile range and the median value is indicated by the horizontal line. The y axes are split (indicated by dashed lines) and the high outliers are labelled by case number.

Back to article page