Fig. 3

GJB3 as tumor suppressors in bladder cancer. A–B (A) RT-qPCR was used to measure the GJB3 mRNA expression, and (B) Western blot was employed to ascertain protein amounts. The relative mRNA expression was quantified with respect to GAPDH. The qPCR shows results of n = 4 technical repeats. Error bars represent Mean ± SEM. α-tubulin serves as loading control in Western blot. n = 3 independent experiments were performed. C Comparison of GJB3 mRNA levels in the CNUH (GSE13507) cohort of NMIBC (n = 103) and MIBC (n = 62) human bladder tumors. Statistical differences were defined by two-way Fisher’s ANOVA test * = p ≤ 0.05. D The IHC images represent the GJB3 staining (red arrows) in human normal bladder and bladder cancer tissues. E Quantitation of GJB3-IHC staining scores in human normal bladder and bladder cancer groups. F The IHC images display Gjb3 staining (red arrows) in mouse normal bladder and bladder cancer tissues during BBN-induced BC progression. G Quantitation of Gjb3-IHC staining scores in normal bladder and bladder cancer tissues during the BBN-induced BC progression in mice. The expression of Gjb3 gradually diminished after the BBN treatment, in contrast to the control mice (black dots), which were given water (orange dots). The bar graph displays mean ± SEM data, and a two-tailed Student's t-test was used to assess significance. Scale bars: 200 μm (D and F, main panels) and 50 μm (D and F insets). Images were captured at total magnification of 100 × (D and F main panels), and 630 × (D and F insets)