Axl promotes the proliferation, invasion and migration of Wilms’ tumor and can be used as a prognostic factor

Figures & data

Figure 1 The expression of Axl in tissues.

Notes: (A) A representative image of Axl-positive immunohistochemical staining in WT tissues. (B) A representative image of Axl-negative immunohistochemical staining in WT tissues. (C) The Axl expression in WT tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues by WB. (D) The expression of Axl mRNA in paired WT tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues by qPCR. Data are shown as mean ± SD. *P<0.05.
Abbreviations: WT, Wilms’ tumor; WB, Western blotting; mRNA, messenger RNA; qPCR, quantitative polymerase chain reaction; SD, standard deviation; T, tumor; N, non-tumor.

Table 1 Axl expression in WT and matched adjacent noncancerous tissues

Groups	Axl expression		P-value
	High	Low
WT samples (72 cases)	49	23	<0.05*
Adjacent non-tumor samples (72 cases)	35	37

Note:

* Indicates statistical significance.

Abbreviation: WT, Wilms’ tumor.

Table 2 The relationship between the clinicopathological features and Axl expression of WT patients

Clinicopathological characteristics	Cases (n=72)	Axl expression		χ^2
		High (n=49)	Low (n=23)
Gender				0.054
Male	39	27	12
Female	33	22	11
Age, years				2.526
<3	38	29	9
≥3	34	20	14
Tumor size, cm				3.194
<8	48	36	12
≥8	24	13	11
Histological type				0.356
Favorable	35	25	10
Unfavorable	37	24	13
Lung metastasis/recurrence				5.143 (P<0.05)
No	42	25	17
Yes	30	24	6
Survival status				4.182 (P<0.05)
Alive	44	26	18
Dead	28	23	5

Note: Data in bold indicates statistical significance.

Abbreviation: WT, Wilms’ tumor.

Table 3 Univariate Cox analysis of potential prognostic factors in WT patients

Clinicopathological characteristics	Hazard ratio (95% CI)	P-value
Gender	1.023 (0.350–3.107)	0.939
Age	1.216 (0.320–4.699)	0.766
Tumor size	1.085 (0.637–1.815)	0.785
Histological type	0.839 (0.708–1.246)	0.664
Lung metastasis	3.101 (1.034–9.354)	0.043
Axl expression (low vs high)	0.245 (0.078–0.838)	0.024

Note: Data in bold indicates statistical significance.

Abbreviations: WT, Wilms’ tumor; CI, confidence interval.

Figure 2 The effect of Axl on proliferation of WT cells in vitro.

Notes: (A) The Axl expression of control, sh-Axl and sh-Axl + Gas6 by RT-qPCR. (B) The cell viability assessed by MTT assays in the three groups. (D) The images of clone-forming assays of the three groups. (C) The statistical histogram of clone assays. Data are shown as mean ± SD. *P<0.05, **P<0.01.
Abbreviations: WT, Wilms’ tumor; RT-qPCR, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction; MTT, methyl-thiazolyl-tetrazolium; SD, standard deviation.

Figure 3 The effect of Axl on migration and invasion of WT cells in vitro.

Notes: (A) The images of wound-healing assays in the three groups. (B) The images of transwell assays in the three groups. (C) The statistical histogram of wound-healing assays. (D) The statistical histogram of transwell assays. Data are shown as mean ± SD. *P<0.05. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Abbreviations: WT, Wilms’ tumor; SD, standard deviation.

Figure 4 The effect of Axl on tumorigenicity of WT cells in vivo.

Notes: (A) The images of tumors formed in control and sh-Axl WT cells. Scale bar: 0.5 cm. (B) The tumor section with HE staining under microscopy. Scale bar: 200 µm. (C) The statistical histogram of tumor weights. (D) The growth curve of tumors. (E) The expression of proteins Axl, Akt, PI3K and P70S6K by Western blotting. Data are shown as mean ± SD. *P<0.05.
Abbreviations: WT, Wilms’ tumor; HE, hematoxylin and eosin; SD, standard deviation.