Fig. 2

a qRT-PCR analysis of MUCIN-2 in matched pairs of normal mucosa (M, white) and tumour (T, black) tissues from CRC patients (n = 17). b Immunohistochemistry (IHC) images for GLI1 and Mucin-2 expression in matched paired tissue samples from colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with low- and high-GLI1 expression represented at ×20 magnification. c Quantification of the staining immunoreactivity by the mean IRS for Mucin-2 expression according to patients with low- and high-GLI1 expression in CRC tissue. d Distribution of tumour type, mucinous adenocarcinomas versus non-mucinous adenocarcinomas, according to low- and high-GLI1 expression. Pairwise Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the expression of GLI1 and Mucin-2. P value according to chi-square test. e Kaplan–Meier curves for overall survival adjusted for age and TNM stage subgroups of patients with both GLI1 and Mucin-2 expression compared by the log-rank test. The high-GLI1 and low-Mucin-2 patient group was set as the reference category. f Experimental schematic of the AOM–DSS mouse model. GLI1 expression exhibited a negative correlation with differentiation in the cysltr2^−/− AOM–DSS mouse model. Immunohistochemical evaluation showing the protein expression of g Mucin-2 and h GLI1 in wt and cysltr2^−/− AOM–DSS-challenged mice. Graph bars showing the IRS scores for Mucin-2 and GLI1, respectively, compared between wt and cysltr2^−/−, n = 6 mice/group. Scale bar as indicated in the images. Data represent the mean ± SD, ***P < 0.001, Mann–Whitney test.