Fig. 3

Transcripts encoding GFPT2 are induced in A549 and co-expressed with known markers of mesenchymal transition. a RT-qPCR analysis confirms that two of the enzymes in the HBP pathway, GFPT2 and UAP1, are transcriptionally upregulated in mesenchymal A549 cells, while OGT expression remains relatively unchanged. Mesenchymal A549 cells upregulate GFPT2 along with other known mesenchymal transcripts, SNAI2, ZEB2 and INHBA. mRNA expression is represented as fold change compared with the unstimulated control cells with samples normalized to GAPDH. Data are calculated mean + SD, * p = < 0.05 and ** = < 0.01, n = 3. NS - not significant compared with controls. b TCGA data (LUAD, 517 samples) were stratified between GFPT2 high (> 9 RNA Seq V2 RSEM) and low (< 6 RNA Seq V2 RSEM) using cBioPortal [49, 50]. g The mesenchymal gene signatures that are enriched when GFPT2 expression is elevated are shown and highly significant based on the p values, which ranged from 2.11E-03 to 4.23E-12