BZW1 promotes cell proliferation in prostate cancer by regulating TGF-β1/Smad pathway

Figures & data

Table 1. BZW1 expression detected in PCa and non-cancerous prostate tissues by IHC

Types	N	BZW1		P value
		Low expression (%)	High expression (%)
PCa tissues	136	43 (31.6)	93 (68.4)	<0.001
Non-cancerous prostate tissues	136	92 (67.6)	44 (32.4)

Figure 1. The expression levels of BZW1 were detected in PCa. (a) qRT-PCR revealed that the mRNA levels of BZW1 were significantly higher in PCa compared with those in NC. (NC: non-cancerous prostate tissues). (b) BZW1 low expression in non-cancerous prostate tissues by IHC (score = 0). (c) BZW1 low expression in PCa by IHC (score = 2). (d) BZW1 high expression in PCa by IHC (score = 4). (e) BZW1 high expression in PCa by IHC (score = 6)

Table 2. BZW1 expression correlated with clinicopathological characteristics in PCa

Clinicopathological characteristics	N	BZW1			P value
		Low expression		High expression
Age (years)
≤60	60	24	36		0.067
>60	76	19	57
Smoke history
Negative	79	29	40		0.058
Positive	57	14	43
T stage
T1-T2	65	34	31		<0.001
T3	71	9	62
Lymph node metastasis
Negative	70	33	37		<0.001
Positive	66	10	56
PSA (ng/ml)
<10	34	18	16		0.003
≥10	102	25	77
Gleason score
<8	73	34	39		<0.001
≥8	63	9	54

Table 3. Survival analysis performed by Kaplan–Meier method

Variables	N	Mean survival time (months, 95% CI)	P value
BZW1 expression
Low expression	43	56 (51–61)	0.002
High expression	93	44 (40–48)
Age (years)
≤60	60	48 (43–53)	0.969
>60	76	47 (42–52)
Smoke history
Negative	79	47 (42–52)	0.439
Positive	57	49 (44–54)
T stage
T1-T2	65	55 (51–59)	<0.001
T3	71	41 (37–45)
Lymph node metastasis
Negative	70	54 (50–58)	<0.001
Positive	66	41 (37–45)
PSA (ng/ml)
<10	34	55 (49–61)	0.024
≥10	102	45 (41–49)
Gleason score
<8	73	55 (51–59)	<0.001
≥8	63	38 (34–42)

Table 4. Prognostic factors analyzed by Cox’s proportional hazards model

Variables	Hazard rate	95% CI	P value
BZW1 (high expression vs low expression)	3.394	1.658–6.947	0.001
Age (≤60 years vs >60 years)	0.686	0.385–1.223	0.202
Smoke history (positive vs negative)	0.582	0.327–1.039	0.067
T stage (T3 vs T1-T2)	2.878	1.614–5.132	<0.001
PSA (≥10 ng/ml vs <10 ng/ml)	2.096	1.056–4.163	0.034
Lymph node metastasis (positive vs negative)	2.636	1.516–4.584	0.001
Gleason score (≥8 vs <8)	3.235	1.857–5.635	<0.001

Figure 2. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that patients with BZW1 overexpression had unfavorable survival

Figure 3. BZW1 overexpression promoted cell proliferation in vitro. (a) The protein expression of BZW1 was detected in PCa cell lines by Western blot. (b) qRT-PCR analysis revealed that BZW1 downregulation and up-regulation were successfully performed. (c) Western blot analysis revealed that BZW1 downregulation and upregulation were successfully performed. (d) CCK-8 assay has shown that BZW1 down regulation significantly inhibited cell proliferation, while BZW1 overexpression significantly promoted cell proliferation

Figure 4. BZW1 overexpression promoted cell proliferation in vivo. (a) BZW1 overexpression promoted colony formation. (b) The photographs of solid tumors. (c) Statistical analysis of tumor weight and tumor volume. (d) The expression of Ki-67 in solid tumor tissues. (e) BZW1 overexpression activated the TGF-β1/Smad pathway. *Compared with NC groups, P< 0.05