Fig. 3

ETV4 promotes CRC progression. a Analysis of the TCGA dataset for levels of ETV1, ETV4, and ETV5 in normal colon (NC) and CRC samples of four different clinicopathological stages (I, II, III, and IV). b The graph for the proportion of normal colon (n = 20) and CRC (n = 188) tissue samples with different ETV4 expression scores (−, +, ++). The CRC tissue microarray was subjected to immunohistochemical analysis of ETV4 protein levels. c Western blot analyses of ETV4 levels in ETV4-overexpressing (ETV4 OE) and ETV4-knockdown (shETV4) CRC cells (HCT116 and HT29). d Cell proliferation assay of ETV4-overexpressing (ETV4 OE) and ETV4-knockdown (shETV4) CRC cells. e In vivo subcutaneous tumor growth curves of control (scramble) and ETV4-knockdown (shETV4) HCT116 cells. n = 6 per each group. The inset image is a representative image of xenograft tumors dissected from the mice after the last measurement of tumor size. The right panel represents a graph for average weights of the dissected tumors. f, g Matrigel invasion (f) and trans-well migration (g) assay of control, ETV4-overexpressing, and ETV4-knockdown CRC cells. The bottom panels represent the bar graph for quantification of cell invasiveness (f) and cell migration (g), respectively. Three independent experiments were performed. All error bars indicate s.e.m. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001