Fig. 1: High expression of Pro-IL-1β associates with metastasis and unfavorable prognosis in HNSCC patients.
A the mRNA levels of IL1B in HNSCC were analyzed from TCGA transcriptomic dataset. Tumor: n = 502 patient samples; Normal: n = 44 patient samples. B the mRNA levels of IL1B in fresh HNSCC samples and normal counterparts were determined by qRT-PCR. n = 3 biologically independent samples. C the protein levels of Pro-IL-1β in fresh HNSCC samples and normal counterparts were determined by Western blot assays. N normal, T tumor. The samples derive from the same experiment, but different gels for Pro-IL-1β and its loading control GAPDH were processed in parallel. D the protein levels of Pro-IL-1β in HNSCC samples were measured by IHC assays. Scale bar = 200 μm, 50 μm. E, F the protein level of Pro-IL-1β associates with advanced T stage and distant metastasis in HNSCC. T1–T3: n = 81 patient samples, T4: n = 9 patient samples; M0: n = 68 patient samples, M1: n = 22 patient samples. The box plots represent the median (center line), the 25th and 75th percentiles (bounds of the box), and the whiskers extend to the smallest and largest values within 1.5 × interquartile range (IQR) from the box. G the protein level of Pro-IL-1β predicts unfavorable overall survival in HNSCC patients. IHC scores of Pro-IL-1β greater than 6 were determined as high expression; others were considered as low expression. Student’s t-test (two-tailed) to compare the difference between two groups of data. One way ANOVA to compare the difference between three or more groups of data. These experiments were repeated at least biological triplicate. Data were presented as the means ± SD. **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001. Exact P values and raw data were provided in the Source Data file.
