Fig. 7: FGFR2 inhibition increases PD-L1 expression in ESCC via IL-8 secretion.

a GSEA of sequencing data highlighting significant pathways in AZD4547-treated (40 μM) cells. b Cytokine analysis in medium from AZD4547-treated KYSE140 cells, highlighting the significantly increased cytokine (red box). Concentration of cytokines were shown on the bottom. c Differential expression of inflammation-related cytokines between control and AZD4547-treated groups. d Upregulated PD-L1 protein levels post-AZD4547 treatment. e Expression levels of MLKL and PD-L1 in ESCC cell lines. f MLKL and PD-L1 expression in ESCC tissue microarrays. Scale bar, 200 μm. The correlation was shown in table. g PD-L1 expression analysis in cells cultured with supernatant from AZD4547-treated cells (40 μM). Created in BioRender. Chen, D. (2025) https://BioRender.com/qkttth3. h, i PD-L1 levels post-IL-8 treatment at various concentrations and indicated time. j Western blot analysis of PD-L1 in cells treated with AZD-CM and 1 μg/mL IL-8 antibody. k Western blot analysis of PD-L1 in cells treated with 50 ng/mL IL-8 and 1 μg/mL IL-8 antibody. l PD-L1 expression analysis in cells cultured with the AZD4547-conditioned medium from the IL-8 knockdown or control groups. m, n Protein expression analysis following treatment with AZD-CM (m) or 50 ng/mL IL-8 (n). AZD-CM: AZD4547-conditioned medium. All data are mean ± SD from n = 4 biological replicates. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.