Fig. 1

FOXA1 is poorly expressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. a Differential expression analysis for CRC-related microarray data GSE3493. The X axis indicated the sample number and the Y axis indicated the DEGs. The upper right histogram indicated color gradation. b Difference analysis was carried out using “limma” package of R language with |log FoldChange| > 1 and p < 0.05 as screening criteria for DEGs. The STRING database (https://string-db.org/) was used to analyze the intersection and association of DEGs. Each circle in the graph represented one gene, and the lines between circles represented the interaction between genes. The darker the color was, the higher the core level of the gene was in the network. c FOXA1 expression analyzed by TCGA database. The X axis indicated the disease type and the Y axis indicated the gene expression. The red referred to the tumor samples, and the gray referred to the normal samples. d FOXA1 mRNA expression in CRC tissues (n = 75) and adjacent normal tissues (n = 75) determined by RT-qPCR, normalized to GAPDH. e FOXA1 protein band pattern in CRC tissues (n = 75) and adjacent normal tissues (n = 75) detected by Western blot analysis. f FOXA1 protein expression in CRC tissues (n = 75) and adjacent normal tissues (n = 75) determined by Western blot analysis, normalized to GAPDH. g FOXA1 mRNA expression in HIEC and CRC cells determined by RT-qPCR, normalized to GAPDH. e FOXA1 protein band pattern in HIEC and CRC cells detected by Western blot analysis. f FOXA1 protein expression in HIEC and CRC cells determined by Western blot analysis, normalized to GAPDH. SW480 cells were treated with FOXA1 overexpression plasmid (with oe-NC as control) and exposed to irradiation (with non-irradiated cells as control). k Cell viability in SW480 cells detected using CCK-8 assay. k Colony formation ability of SW480 cells detected using colony formation assay. m The number of colonies of SW480 cells detected using colony formation assay. n Cell cycle in SW480 cells detected using flow cytometry. o The proportion of SW480 cells detected using flow cytometry. p Apoptosis of SW480 cells detected using flow cytometry. q Apoptotic rate of SW480 cells detected using flow cytometry. Values obtained from three independent experiments in triplicate are expressed as mean ± SD and analyzed by paired t test between CRC tissues and adjacent normal tissues, by unpaired t test between CRC cells and HIEC cells, by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test among multiple groups, and by repeated measures ANOVA followed by Bonferroni at different time points. ^*p < 0.05 compared with adjacent normal tissues, HIEC cells, or SW480 cells treated with oe-NC plasmids; ^&p < 0.05 compared with HT-29 cell lines; ^#p < 0.05 compared with non-irradiated cells