Fig 2: Expression of key genes in primary ccRCC and the corresponding metastatic ccRCC.(A) the qRT-PCR analysis showed the expression of PCOLCE, P4HB, COL6A2 and COL6A3 in primary ccRCC cell line Caki-2 and its corresponding metastatic ccRCC cell line Caki-1. (∗∗∗P < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗P < 0.0001) (B) Representative IHC staining images of PCOLCE, P4HB, COL6A2 and COL6A3 in human primary ccRCC and corresponding metastatic ccRCC (22 paired cases) are on the left, and the quantitative results on the right. 200x. (∗∗∗P < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗P < 0.0001).

Fig 3: The expression patterns of PCPE-1 in HCC tissues. Representative IHC images showing high expression and low expression of PCPE-1 in HCC.

Fig 4: Positive correlation between the protein level of PCPE-1 and procollagens. The correlations between the protein level of PCPE-1 and several procollagens (COL1A1, COL1A2, COL2A1, COL3A1, COL4A1, COL4A2, COL5A1, COL5A2, COL5A3, COL6A1, COL6A2, COL6A3, COL7A1, COL8A1, COL10A1) were analyzed using the publicly accessible Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) database. Correlation scatter plots illustrate the relationship between the protein level of PCPE-1 and the aforementioned procollagens.

Fig 5: Bioinformatics analysis of procollagen C‐proteinase enhancer (PCOLCE) by using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database. The expression profile of PCOLCE in (A) normal brain and glioblastoma tissues and (B) normal brain and low‐grade glioma tissues was analyzed using GEPIA 2.0 database (GEPIA 2.0 [cancer‐pku.cn]). (C) PCOLCE expression in major stages of glioma was analyzed using the CGGA database. The differential expression of PCOLCE (D) in IDH mutation glioma and wildtype glioma, (E) its correlation with age, (F) in primary and recurrent gliomas, and (G) its correlation with gender as detected using the CGGA database. The correlations of PCOLCE expression level with (H) overall survival and (I) progression‐free survival in glioma were analyzed using the TCGA database.