Figure 1 from The Lysine Demethylase KDM4C Is an Oncogenic Driver and Regulates ERK Activity in KRAS-Mutant Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

KDM4C is differentially upregulated in pancreatic cancer and correlates with poor prognosis. A, Western blots show human PDAC cell lines overexpress KDM4C compared with the noncancerous pancreatic epithelial cell line HPNE. B, Representative photomicrographs of KDM4C expression by IHC on TMAs of archival PDAC samples demonstrates upregulation of KDM4C in neoplastic cells compared with matched nonneoplastic pancreatic tissues. C, Bar graph showing the mean and distribution of the immunoscores of KDM4C expression in 187 cases of PDAC and matched normal pancreas. The score difference between the groups was assessed for statistical significance via paired t test; ****, P ≤ 0.0001. D, Kaplan–Meier survival plot showing increased survival of patients with low-KDM4C expressing PDAC (n = 96) compared with high-expressing tumors (n = 90) from the TMA dataset (P = 0.03). To determine KDM4C expression, we used PDAC TMAs, comprised of 187 PDAC cases. From each case, two punches (1.5 mm) from separate tumor areas (T1 and T2) and one punch (1.5 mm) from the normal pancreas (N) were included. After IHC staining with anti-KDM4C antibody, the samples were evaluated by a pathologist for both the intensity and percentage of stained cells in a semi-quantitative way. Intensity: 0: no staining/1: weak/2: moderate/3: strong. Proportion: 1: less than 10%/2: 10% to 50%/3: 50% to 75%/4: more than 75%. The final immunoscore was calculated by adding the intensity score to the proportion score according to the Allred method. The average immunoscore score from the tumor area was divided by the immunoscore from the matched normal area for each case. The log2 ratio was then used for survival analysis, with a threshold log2 ratio of 0.32.