Fig. 4

HULLK expression in prostate cancer. a Expression of HULLK in a panel of PCa and normal prostate epithelial cell lines cultured in complete growth media. qPCR was performed with two independent LCK primer sets targeting exon 2 (E2) and the 3’UTR (3 U), n = 3. b HULLK expression in C4–2, MCF7, BT549, MDA-MB-231, HeLa, and PANC1 cell lines grown in complete growth media. qPCR was performed with LCK primers targeting the 3’UTR, n = 3. c A significant positive correlation between HULLK expression and PCa grade. 33 FFPE tissue samples were obtained from the Biorepository and Tissue Research Facility at the University of Virginia. These samples represent biopsies and surgical resections collected in 2016 from PCa patients presenting with Gleason Score 6–10. Normal and cancerous regions were demarcated and 1.5 mm punches were collected. ddPCR was performed on the QX200 droplet digital PCR system (Bio-Rad). d 16 fresh-frozen tissue samples from Gleason Score 6–10 PCa patients were acquired from Dr. Ganesh Raj from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. These samples were surgically resected from May to December in 2017, placed in RNALater (ThermoFisher), and frozen immediately. e Statistical analysis of the association between the LCK E13 to LCK E4 ratio and grade was performed using linear regression models, following transformation to the log scale. The analyses were conducted separately for frozen and FFPE samples, with a test for interaction used to test whether the association between the E13 to E4 ratio and grade was the same in frozen samples as in FFPE samples. f HULLK expression in normal and tumor and g low Gleason [scores 6 and 7(3 + 4)] and high Gleason score [scores 7(4 + 3), and 8–10] in the PRAD TCGA cohort