Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: Hepatocytes functionally reprogrammed by KIAA1199-high colorectal cancer cells favour the accumulation of pro-metastatic Egr1 + neutrophils

doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-69250-1

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Subcutaneous tumor growth in mice co-injected with CRC cells and either Egr1⁺ or control neutrophils. Tumor volume was monitored for 21 days. Inset shows representative tumors at endpoint ( n = 5 mice, two-way ANOVA). B CD31 immunofluorescence (green) and vascular density quantification in subcutaneous tumors. Yellow arrowheads indicate endothelial structures ( n = 5 mice, Student’s t test). Scale bars: 100 µm. C mIHC of pre-metastatic livers (day 14) showing spatial association of Egr1 + neutrophils (white arrowheads) and CD31⁺ vessels (yellow arrowheads). Scale bars: 100 µm. D , E Co-localization analysis of Egr1⁺ neutrophils and CD31⁺ vasculature in mouse ( D , n = 2 mice) and human ( E , n = 2 patients) CRLM samples, highlighting the tumor boundary. Scale bars: 100 µm. F , I SVEC4-10 endothelial cell viability (CCK-8) ( n = 3 independent experiments, Student’s t test). G , J Endothelial functional assays using supernatants from triple co-cultures treated with Rog or WRW4 ( n = 3 independent experiments, Student’s t test). H , K Endothelial migration (scratch wound assay) ( n = 3 independent experiments, Student’s t test). L Representative tube formation images (HUVEC and SVEC4-10) treated with neutrophil-conditioned media ( n = 3 independent experiments). Scale bars: 20 µm. M , N Quantification of vessel numbers ( M ) and junction points ( N ) ( n = 3 independent experiments, Student’s t test). Where applicable, all statistical tests are two-sided. Data are presented as mean ± s.d. Source data and exact p values are provided as a Source Data file.

Article Snippet: Murine colorectal cancer cell lines MC38 (Cat# CL-0972) and CT26 (Cat# CL-0071), murine hepatocyte line AML12 (Cat# CL-0602), murine endothelial cell line SVEC4-10 (Cat# CL-0221), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC, Cat# CL-0675), and human myeloid cell line HL-60 (Cat# CL-0110) were obtained from Procell Life Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (Wuhan, China).

Techniques: Injection, Control, Immunofluorescence, CCK-8 Assay, Functional Assay, Migration, Scratch Wound Assay Assay