Fig. 7
The high secretion of TGF-β1 in M2-TAMs was closely related to poor prognosis and stemness in ESCC patients. A Immunohistochemical staining to detect the expression of CD163, TGF-β1, CD44, OCT4, and p-Smad2/3 in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Originalmagnification: 40 × . Inset magnification: 200 × . Scale bar: 100 μm. B Spearman correlation analysis of the correlation between the level of TGF-β1 and the density of CD68 + TAMs, CD163 + M2-TAMs in ESCC stroma. C Correlation between the density of CD163 + M2-TAMs and the expression of CD44 and OCT4 in ESCC. D Correlation between the level of TGF-β1 and CD44, OCT4 in ESCC. E, F Kaplan–Meier plot of ESCC cases based on the infiltration of CD68 + TAMs and CD163 + M2-TAMs. (G) Overall survival of ESCC patients classified by the levels of TGF-β1 (total data n = 92, TGF-β1high n = 46, TGF-β1low n = 46). H The overall survival rate of ESCC between the level of TGF-β1 in patients with a high density of CD163 + M2-TAMs in ESCC (total data n = 46, TGF-β1lowCD163high n = 19, TGF-β1highCD163high n = 27). I The schematic diagram of this study, M2-TAMs phosphorylate the Smad2/3 pathway by secreting TGF-β1 to combine with TGFβR1 on the surface of ESCC cells, resulting in stemness transformation and chemoresistance