Fig 2: Flow chart of molecular mechanism underlying the effect of POLQ on SACC. POLQ over-expression inhibited DNA repair factors KU70 and RAD51, and promoted PARP1 in SACC, leading to chromosomal instability and SACC progression

Fig 3: Effects of altered POLQ expression on DNA damage repair pathways. (A) Western blots and qualifications of ?H2AX, RAD51, KU70 and PARP1 in the indicated cells. (B) Western blots and qualifications of ?H2AX, RAD51, KU70 and PARP1 in the indicated cells under etoposide-induced DNA damage. (C) qRT-PCR for MLH1 mRNA and protein in the indicated cells. (D) Western blots and qualification of MLH1 protein in the indicated cells. Error bars in graphs reflect SEM. Error bars in graphs reflect SEM; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, determined by unpaired, two-tailed t-test

Fig 4: Effects of altered POLQ expression on DSBs under etoposide-induced DNA damage. (A) Cell viability of SACC-83 cells treated with etoposide from 0 to 1000 µM. (B) Western blots and quantifications of ?H2AX in the indicated cells. (C) Immunofluorescence for ?H2AX (top panel) in the indicated cells and quantification of positive cells (bottom panel). Scale bars, 100 µm. Error bars in graphs reflect SEM; *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, determined by unpaired, two-tailed t-test

Fig 5: Analysis of transcription factors that regulated POLQ expression. (A) The PROMO prediction web tool identified potential transcription factors that regulated POLQ transcription. (B) The Cistrome Data Browser prediction web tool revealed the transcription factors with the high possibilities binding to the POLQ gene. (C) The JASPAR prediction web tool identified the transcription factors with the high scores for binding to POLQ promoter. (D) Sequence logo of the specific binding motifs of CEBPB. (E) Data in the GEPIA database showed a positive correlation between CEBPB and POLQ expression in BRCA. Colour images are available online