Fig. 4

ELOVL2 suppresses tumor growth in vivo and correlates with favorable neuroblastoma patient survival. a, b and c SK-N-AS cells stably expressing negative control or ELOVL2 shRNA were injected subcutaneously into nude mice (n = 5 for each group). Tumors were compared (a) at the end of the experiment. Tumor growth curves (b) were measured starting at 7 days after inoculation. The DHA concentration of tumors (c) was measured by ELISA. d, e and f BE(2)-C cells stably expressing ELOVL2 or the GFP control were injected subcutaneously into nude mice (n = 5 for each group). Tumors were compared (d) at the end of the experiment. Tumor growth curves (e) were measured starting at 7 days after inoculation. The DHA concentration of tumors (f) was measured by ELISA. g Representative IHC analysis of ELOVL2 protein expression in normal nerve tissues and neuroblastoma specimens of different INSS stages (1–3) is shown. Scale bar, 100 μm. h The results of IHC analysis of ELOVL2 expression are presented as bar graphs of the mean number of the ELOVL2-positive rate. i and j Overall (i) and disease-free (j) Kaplan-Meier curves with univariate analyses for patients with low versus high ELOVL2 mRNA expression in a cohort of 476 tumors. k, l, m, n and o High-level ELOVL2 mRNA expression in neuroblastomas correlates with favorable clinical features, including low INSS stage (k), single-copy MYCN status (l), ≤18 months age at diagnosis (m), low risk of PAM classification (n) and favorable Shimada/INPC (o) in a cohort of 476 tumors. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01