Fig 2: Identification and verification of DEPs in ESCC tissues. a Paired ESCC and adjacent normal esophageal tissues from three patients were analyzed by TMT. Twofold change was defined as the threshold for a significant change in expression. We detected 39 proteins up-regulated in cancer tissues compared with that in adjacent normal tissues (paired-samples t-test, p < 0.001). b Gene ontology enrichment analysis of identified DEPs which were classified into cellular component, molecular function, and biological process. c, d Validation of DEPs in ESCA. The expression of FN1, LTBP1, PLOD2, THBS1 and RCN3 were confirmed by GEPIA and western blot analysis. N non-tumorous tissues, T tumorous tissues. (one-way ANOVA and paired-samples t-test, *p < 0.05)

Fig 3: LTBP1 contributed to CAFs transformation and expression of FN1 induced by ESCC cells. a The expression of LTBP1 and FN1 were positively correlated in the GEPIA database (Spearman correlation analysis, r = 0.6, p < 0.001). b, c The expression of LTBP1 and FN1 were detected in various cells by western blot and ELISA. d, f Western blot and immunofluorescent analysis of a-SMA and FN1 expression in fibroblasts which were con-cultured with si-NC, si-LTBP1 ESCC cells or negative for 96 h. e CCK8 assays comparing the effect of (± siLTBP1 ESCC cells or negative) conditioned medium on the activity of the fibroblasts. Each experiment was performed in triplicate. Paired-samples t-test, *p < 0.05