Fig 2: Forest plot of the correlation between LOX expression and overall survival in GC patients based on GEO data. (A) Univariate Cox regression analysis. (B) Multivariate Cox regression analysis. GEO, the Gene Expression Omnibus.

Fig 3: AZM and JNK1 inhibitor (SP600125) have similar effects, and reduced the expression of LOX and LOXL2 in mice primary lung fibroblasts induced by 5 µg/ml TGF-ß1. (A,B) The protein expression of LOX, LOXL2, COL1, JNK and GAPDH was measured in each group by Western blot. (C,D) The gene expression of LOX and LOXL2 was measured in each group by RT-PCR. Data were presented as the means ± SD (n = 3). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001, ns, non-significant.

Fig 4: CHI3L1 promotes HCC progression by disturbing LPO metabolism. (A) CHI3L1 over-expression increased the cellular ROS level in Hep1-6 cells; (B) CHI3L1 promoted fat accumulation in Hep1-6 cells, especially in high fatty acid (HF) medium (scale bar, 100 µm); (C) LPO staining assay on the Hep1-6 cells identified increased LPO accumulation in the CHI3L1 over-expressing cells, especially in high fat medium. Tocopherol inhibited LPO synthesis in the Hep1-6 cells; (D) LPO detection kit showed increased LPO level in CHI3L1 over-expressing Hep1-6 cells and decreased LPO level in CHI3L1 knockdown Hep1-6 cells; (E) LPO inhibition using a-tocopherol can compromise pro-proliferative effects of CHI3L1 in Hep1-6 cells; (F) LPO inhibition can compromise pro-invasive and migrative effects of CHI3L1 in Hep1-6 cells (scale bar, 200 µm); (G) The lipid peroxidation enzymes including LOX and COX2 were up-regulated in the CHI3L1 over-expressing Hep1-6 cells; (H) Targeted profiling on 14 metabolites in the cholesterol metabolism pathway showed that they were generally down-regulated by CHI3L1 (negative control vs CHI3L1 over expression, repeats = 3). Targeted profiling of 71 oxylipins identified 22 differential oxylipins, including 20 up-regulated and 2 down-regulated by CHI3L1 (negative control vs CHI3L1 over expression, repeats = 3); (I) Pathway analysis showed that CHI3L1 altered the level of 5 metabolites in arachidonic acid metabolism pathway in the Hep1-6 cells; (J) The schematic diagram. Data represent the mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001.

Fig 5: Correlation between TIC ratio and LOX expression. (A) The violin chart shows the proportional difference between the LOX high and low expression groups and 22 TICs (Wilcoxon rank-sum test). (B) The Scatter diagram shows the correlation between LOX expression and the proportion of TIC in 12 (Pearson coefficient test). (C) Venn diagram shows that 8 TICs are related to LOX expression. The intersection of the difference and correlation test is shown in the violin chart and the scatter chart.