Fig. 3
IL-11 is upregulated in prostate cancer and associated with docetaxel resistance and biochemical recurrence. A Top panel: Kaplan‒Meier survival curves for prostate cancer patients stratified into subtypes A-E based on gene expression profiles, with the log-rank p value indicating significant differences in survival outcomes. Middle panel: A heatmap of the top differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across the identified subtypes, with hierarchical clustering on the y-axis and individual genes on the x-axis. Bottom panel: Box plots illustrating differential drug sensitivity among the subtypes for various chemotherapeutic agents, as measured by the log-transformed half-maximal inhibitory concentration (log(IC50)). B A comprehensive heatmap representing normalized gene expression values of key DEGs across prostate cancer subtypes A-E, with the dendrogram indicating the clustering of subtypes based on gene expression patterns. C, D Box plots comparing the sensitivity of prostate cancer subtypes to different chemotherapeutic agents, including docetaxel and paclitaxel. The y-axis represents the log(IC50) values indicating drug sensitivity, while the x-axis denotes the subtypes. E Violin plot depicting the elevated mRNA expression of IL-11 in docetaxel-resistant (DTX Resis) compared to naïve prostate cancer samples.(n = 56) (F) IL-11 mRNA and protein expression (G) were detected by RT–PCR and western blot analysis in the RWPE-1, C4-2, PC3, DU145, 22RV1 and IE8 cell lines. H Box plot illustrating the increased mRNA expression of IL-11RA in docetaxel-resistant vs. naïve samples (n = 56) (I) The protein level of IL-11/IL-RA from PCA patients with (n = 5) or without (n = 5) docetaxel resistance was examined by western blotting analysis. J Western blots comparing expression levels of IL-11 and its receptor IL-11RA from PCA patients categorized as either resistant or sensitive to docetaxel (DTX) in Part I and in the context of BCR (biochemical recurrence) status in Part J, with α-tubulin as a loading control. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001