Fig. 1: Up-regulated POU2F1 expression is associated with worse prognosis of colon cancer.

A Venn diagrams identified 417 common DEG in three datasets (GSE9348, GSE20916, and GSE121842). B Volcano plot displayed the distribution of DEGs in 70 colon cancer tissues versus 12 non-tumor colon tissues in the GSE9348 dataset. The DEGs were determined, based on absolute fold change ≥ 1.5 and p value < 0.05. C Heatmap analysis of DEGs in the GSE9348 family. D Scatter plot exhibited the levels of POU2F1 mRNA transcripts in 100 colon cancer (Tumors) and 5 non-tumor colon tissues (Normal) in GSE5206 dataset. E Scatter plot displayed the levels of POU2F1 mRNA transcripts in 398 colon cancer (Tumors) and 39 non-tumor colon tissues (Normal) in TCGA. F Kaplan–Meier analysis of OS in colon cancer patients after stratification with the median value of POU2F1 mRNA transcripts in TCGA. The relative levels of POU2F1 mRNA transcripts (G, n = 42) and protein (H, n = 8) expression in clinical human colon carcinoma and corresponding adjacent tissues were analyzed by RT-qPCR and Western blotting, respectively. I IHC analysis of POU2F1 expression in colon cancer (magnification x100, scale bars 100 μm, magnification x200, scale bars 50 μm). J Kaplan–Meier analysis of PFS and OS in colon cancer patients after stratifying them by the defined POU2F1 IHC score. K, L Quantitative analysis of the relative levels of POU2F1 mRNA transcripts and protein to α-tubulin in five human colon cancer cell lines and non-tumor colonic epithelial HCoEpiC cells by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. Data are representative images or expressed as the mean ± SD of each group of samples analyzed in triplicate from three separate experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.