Fig. 1: Stromal FOXF2 expression inversely correlates with Gleason grade.

a Representative image of 3 independent RNA-in-situ analysis of FOXF2 in human transition (TZ) and peripheral zone (PZ) prostates. Arrows point to pink staining of FOXF2. Bars = 20 μm. b qRT-PCR of FOXF2 in FACS-isolated Lin(CD45CD31CD235a)^-Trop2^- human PZ and TZ prostate stromal cells. Data represent means ± s.d. from 7 specimens by two-sided unpaired t-test. c Image of Visium spatial gene expression analysis for Foxf2 in prostate and urethra of 10-wk-old C57BL/6 mouse. Violin graph shows average arbitrary expression level of Foxf2 in distal and proximal prostatic ducts. N = 4 mice. Two-sided unpaired t-test. d Representative image of 3 independent RNA-in-situ analysis of Foxf2 and Lgr5 in proximal and distal anterior prostate ducts of 10-wk-old C57BL/6 mouse. Bars = 25 μm. Three experiments were repeated independently with similar results. e FOXF2 expression inversely correlates with Gleason scores in two human prostate cancer datasets: Erho et al. (N = 545) and Sboner et al. (N = 281). Box plots represent 5% (lower whisker), 25% (lower box), 50% (median), 75% (upper box), and 95% (upper whisker). f Co-immunostaining of FOXF2 (AF6988, R&D) and α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) in primary human prostate cancer specimens. Yellow and white arrows point to nuclear staining of stromal FOXf2 and nonspecific apical staining in tumor cells, respectively. Dot plot shows relative fluorescence intensity of FOXF2 in benign prostate tissues and prostate cancers of different Gleason patterns, analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Turkey’s multiple comparison test. Each dot represents value calculated from one field. Data show values collected from 343 fields from 20 prostate cancer specimens. Bars = 25 μm. g Expression of FOXF2 in laser-captured stromal cells from prostate cancer of different Gleason patterns and adjacent benign tissues by qRT-PCR. Each dot in plot represents value calculated from one laser captured specimen. Data show values collected from 20 laser-captured samples from 13 prostate cancer specimens, analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Turkey’s multiple comparison test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.