RPIA is highly expressed in different stages of CRC.

<p>(A) Representative RPIA IHC staining at different stages of colon cancer is shown. Scale bar: 500 μm. (B) The average IRS for RPIA staining showed significantly increased RPIA expression from stage I to IVB and the M. Stage III was divided into IIIB and IIIC, and stage IV was divided into IVA and IVB based on their subcategories. The statistical significance was calculated with Student <i>t</i> test (*** <i>P</i> < 0.001). (C) The average RPIA mRNA fold change in paired tissues (tumor tissue versus the surrounding normal tissue) from CRC patients at stages I to IV. The box plot indicates the median (central horizontal line), 75th percentile (the top of box), 25th percentile (the bottom of box), maximum value (the top end), minimum value (the bottom end), and the outlier (the point). Data can be found in <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.2003714#pbio.2003714.s009" target="_blank">S1 Data</a>. CRC, colorectal cancer; IHC, immunohistochemistry; IRS, immunoreactive score; M, metastasis stage; N, normal colorectal tissue; RPIA, ribose-5-phosphate isomerase A.