Prognostic significance of BMP and activin membrane-bound inhibitor in colorectal cancer

Figure 1 Immunoblotting analysis using anti-BAMBI monoclonal antibody detected BAMBI as a 30 kDa protein in all of the CRC and tubular adenoma specimens. No.1 to 3 and 6: Strong expression; No. 4, 5, 7 and 8: Weak expression. The levels of BAMBI expression in CRCs were higher than those in tubular adenomas (lanes No. 9 to 12). The quantitative analysis using densitometry of the bands of BAMBI protein revealed that the band intensity in the weak and strong expression groups in CRCs were about two and three times higher than that in tubular adenomas, respectively.

Figure 2 Examples of the immunostaining of BAMBI at strong expression (A), weak expression (B) levels, and expression of adenoma (C) (× 200). The immunohistochemical expression level correctly reflected the expression level of BAMBI protein in CRC tissues.

Figure 3 BAMBI and β-catenin expression in adenoma and cancer (× 200). Adjacent sections of an adenoma showing weak BAMBI expression in the cytoplasm and cell membrane (A) and weak nuclear localization of β-catenin (B); adjacent sections of a tumor showing strong BAMBI expression in the cytoplasm and cell membrane (C) and strong nuclear localization of β-catenin (D).

Figure 4 A: The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate differed significantly (P = 0. 037) and was 51.9% for strong BAMBI expression compared to 79.8% for weak BAMBI expression; B: The impact of the coexpression of BAMBI and β-catenin on the recurrence-free survival with high β-catenin expression, the 5-year recurrence-free survival was 46.9% for strong BAMBI expression compared to 80.8% for weak BAMBI expression (P = 0.035); C: The impact of the coexpression of BAMBI and p53 on the recurrence-free survival with positive p53 expression, the 5-year recurrence-free survival rate was 43.4% for strong BAMBI expression compared to 78.2% for weak BAMBI expression (P = 0.049).