Fig 2: Effect of Cry41Aa on AQP9 expression. (a,d) AQP9 mRNA levels in HepG2 and HepG2R following exposure to Cry41Aa over time. Gene expression was analysed using the relative quantification (RQ) method. Error bars: RQ min/max. (b,e) Effect of Cry41Aa on AQP9 expression over time. CD59 was used as the loading control. (c) Effect of pre-exposure to Cry41Aa on HepG2 susceptibility. n.s. = non-significant difference. (f) Susceptibility of HepG2R cells to Cry41Aa measured using CellTiter-Glo assay. n.s. = non-significant difference.

Fig 3: Effect of AQP9 knockdown on Cry41Aa susceptibility. (a,d) AQP9 mRNA levels in HepG2 and HepG2R following knock down. Gene expression was analysed using the relative quantification (RQ) method. GAPDH was used as a housekeeping gene. Error bars: RQ min/max. (b) AQP9 expressions levels in HepG2R following knockdown. (c) Effect of AQP9 knockdown in HepG2R on their susceptibility to Cry41Aa, measured using CellTiter-Blue assay. (e) Effect of Cry41Aa addition on AQP9 expression in HepG2R after knockdown.

Fig 4: Expression of AQP1, AQP8, and AQP9 on SSM and NM (black arrow) and epidermis (red arrow). Positive stain is indicated with “+”, while negative stain is indicated with “−“. AQP1 (a,b) -negative and (c) -positive expression in SSM and NM; AQP8 (d,e) -negative and (f,g) -positive expression in SSM and NM; AQP9 (h,i) -negative and (j,k) -positive expression in SSM and NM. SSM, superficial spreading melanoma; NM, nodular melanoma; AQP, aquaporin.

Fig 5: Analysis of disease-free survival based on AQP expression. (a) Disease-free survival of melanoma patients. Kaplan–Meier survival curve based on (b) AQP1, (c) AQP8, and (d) AQP9 expression. AQP, aquaporin.