Fig. 1

UTX expression is associated with CRC progression. A Representative IHC images of UTX staining in CRC patients. Scale bar, 200 μm (left) and 20 μm (right). The proportion of staining was graded as 0 (< 5%), 1 (5–25%), 2 (26–50%), 3 (51–75%), and 4 (> 75%) based on the percentages of the positive staining areas vs. the whole area. The staining intensity was graded as 0 (negative), 1 (weak), 2 (medium), or 3 (strong). The IRS was calculated by multiplying the score of staining proportion and intensity. IRS ≤ 4 was considered low, and > 4 was considered high. IRS of representative images (upper-left, upper-middle, upper-right, bottom-left, bottom-middle, bottom-right): 12, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 0. The proportion of staining: 90%, 90%, 70%, 90%, 50%, and 0%. Staining intensity: 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, and 0. B UTX protein expression assessed by IHC scores of TMA at different pathological stages (stage I: n = 21, stage II: n = 76, stage III: n = 123, stage IV: n = 40). C Kaplan–Meier plot of OS of CRC patients based on UTX expression. D Kaplan–Meier plot of DFS of CRC patients based on UTX expression. Data information: In (B), data are presented as mean ± SEM, ^*P < 0.05 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). In (C and D), log-rank test