Figure 4
Proposed model for cytosolic deformylation as a critical driver of tumorigenesis. (A) Comparative TCGA data on the relative levels of HsPDF mRNA in normal tissues (n = 41) versus colorectal adenocarcinoma (COAD) tissues in various stages (n = 473). In the box-and-whisker plot, the boxes span the 25–75th percentiles with the median, while the whiskers extend to the 2.5–97.5th percentiles. Individual dots represent outliers. Two-tailed t-tests; significant P values are indicated in the figure; NS not significant. (B) A schematic depicting the effect of cytosolic Nt-deformylation on tumorigenicity of colorectal cancer cells. Downregulation of cytosolic Nt-formylated proteins promotes the tumorigenic potential of colorectal cancer cells by inducing CSC-like characteristics, such as reduced cell size, enhanced self-renewal capacity, and elevated expression of CSC marker proteins.
