Fig. 1

Fig. 1

a Matched pair immunohistochemistry (IHC) images of GLI1, CysLT₂R, and 15-PGDH expression in patients with low- and high-GLI1 expression, shown at ×20 magnification. The staining immunoreactivity was quantified by the mean immunoreactive score (IRS), calculated according to the following formula: IRS = (staining intensity) × (% of stained cells). The mean IRS for the groups of patients with low- and high-GLI1 expression. b The Y-axis represents IRS for GLI1 in these patients. c CysLT₂R and d 15-PGDH expression according to patients with low- and high-GLI1 expression in CRC tissue. e Distribution of tumour-node-metastasis (TNM) stages of CRC according to low- and high-GLI1 expression. Pairwise Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the expression of GLI1 and that of CysLT₂R and 15-PGDH. P value according to chi-square test. XY-scatter plots showing mRNA levels of fGLI1 and CysLT₂R and gGLI1 and 15-PGDH (HPGD) gene expression from a public database containing 333 CRC patients. Kaplan–Meier curves for overall survival adjusted for age and TNM stage for patients with h low- and high-GLI1 expression and subgroups of patients with both GLI1 and i CysLT₂R or j 15-PGDH expression compared by the log-rank test. The last patient group served as the reference category. k Western blot analysis showing the protein expression of CysLT₂R, 15-PGDH and GLI1 in matched pairs of six patients with normal (N) and tumour (T) areas. KDa indicated on the left side of the immunoblots (KDa 55, 36, 100, 36) represents protein size markers. Graphical representation of the densitometric analysis showing the relative protein expression for CysLT₂R, 15-PGDH, and GLI1 in matched pairs of patient samples (n = 6) from normal mucosa (M, white) and tumour (T, black) areas. l qRT-PCR analysis of GLI1 in matched pairs of normal mucosa (M, white) and tumour (T, black) tissues from CRC patients (n = 17). Scale bar as indicated in the images. Data represent the mean ± SD, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, Mann–Whitney test.