Fig 2: GOPC protein expression. (A) In normal colorectal mucosa, the GOPC protein was strongly expressed and localized in cytoplasm or cell membrane. Magnification, ×10. (B) GOPC protein expression in colorectal cancer tissue. Magnification, ×15. (C) GOPC protein expression in colorectal cancer tissue. Magnification, ×10. (D) GOPC protein expression in colorectal cancer tissue at the invasion front of cancer at interstitial tissue. Magnification, ×30. In colorectal cancer, expression of GOPC was observed to be relatively low at (C and D) deeper levels compared with (B) the surface area. Scale bar, 100 µm. GOPC, Golgi-associated PDZ- and coiled-coil motif-containing.

Fig 3: Kaplan-Meier curves for OS or RFS according to GOPC expression. (A) Cumulative OS for all cases. (B) Cumulative RFS for cases of curative resection. High and low groups were separated by the median score of GOPS expression. OS or RFS in the GOPC low group was significantly poorer compared with the GOPC high group. OS, overall survival; RFS, recurrence-free survival; GOPC, Golgi-associated PDZ- and coiled-coil motif-containing.

Fig 4: Ssh2 knockout (KO) spermatids exhibit defects in proacrosomal vesicle transport.(A) Immunofluorescence staining of the vesicular trafficking-related Golgi-specific protein GOPC (red) in wild-type (WT) and Ssh2 KO round spermatids in testicular sections co-stained with peanut agglutinin (PNA) lectin (green). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Acrosomal debris was observed in Ssh2 KO round spermatids. GOPC colocalized with PNA lectin in WT spermatids (upper panels, arrow indicates the colocalization) but not in those of Ssh2 KO mice (lower panels, triangle indicates the absence of colocalization), as shown in the representative images. Framed areas are magnified beneath. Scale bars: original images, 10 µm; magnified images, 5 µm. (B) Quantitative analysis of GOPC and PNA lectin colocalization in WT mice, 76.50 ± 3.70%; Ssh2 KO mice, 23.75 ± 7.72% (n=4; 400 cells). Data are shown as mean ± SEM, ***p<0.001 by Student’s t-test. Bars indicate the range of data. (C) Immunofluorescence staining of the autophagosome-related protein LC3A/B (red) in WT and Ssh2 KO round spermatids on the testicular sections co-stained with PNA lectin (green). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). LC3A/B colocalized with PNA lectin in WT spermatids (upper panels, arrow indicates the colocalization) but not in those of Ssh2 KO mice (lower panels, triangle indicates the absence of colocalization) as representative images showed. Framed areas are magnified beneath. Scale bars: original images, 10 µm; magnified images, 5 µm. (D) Quantitative analysis of LC3A/B and PNA lectin colocalization in WT mice, 89.45 ± 2.50%; Ssh2 KO mice, 77.75 ± 5.91% (n=4; 400 cells). Data are shown as the mean ± SEM, ***p<0.05 by Student’s t-test. Bars indicate the range of data. Figure 6—source data 1.Observational datasets and original images.

Fig 5: Kaplan-Meier curves for OS according to each stage. High and low groups were separated by the median score of GOPS expression. OS in the GOPC low group was poorer compared with the GOPC high group; stage III (P=0.044) and stage IV (P=0.054). OS, overall survival; GOPC, Golgi-associated PDZ- and coiled-coil motif-containing.