Fig. 1

LBP secretion is associated with GC metastasis to liver and correlated with worse prognosis. A Heatmap of 49 dysregulated secreted proteins detected by DIA-MS secretomic analysis of serum samples from five patients with GC-LM and five patients with GC-NLM. B Clustered heatmap analysis of the top 200 dysregulated mRNAs of 24 pairs of GC tissues and matched normal gastric tissues (|foldchange|> 2; p < 0.05). C Serological levels of LBP and RBP4 were detected by ELISA in the serum of 30 patients with GC-LM, 30 patients with stage II/III GC and 20 healthy volunteers. D WB verified the expression levels of LBP in GC tissues and matched adjacent normal gastric tissues. E Representative IHC images of LBP in paired primary tumours and LM from the same GC patients. Scale bar, 100 μm. F Comparisons of LBP expression in primary GC tumors and LM based on IHC results. G ROC curve analysis was applied based on the previous serological LBP levels of 30 GC-LM patients and 30 GC-NLM patients. H Liver metastasis-free survival analysis of an additional cohort of GC patients based on serological LBP levels. The cut-off value was determined according to the ROC curve. Data are representative of three independent experiments. Data are shown as mean ± SEM, and p values were determined by one-way ANOVA test (C) or log rank test (H) (* P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001)