Fig. 1

Lung cancer in CIH-treated mice has greater CSC-like potential. a The timeline of this experiment. Briefly, after injected with urethane, mice were cultured for 6 months, then exposed to CIH for 1 month. All mice were harvest at the end of the experiment. b Survival rates of C57Bl/6 wild-type male mice. Tumor + Nor, n = 12, Tumor + CIH, n = 12. c The representative images of cancer loci in lungs from Tumor + Nor and Tumor + CIH groups. d The number of cancer loci observed in the lungs of mice. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. e Images of lung cancer nodules in H&E-stained lungs of mice. (f and g) The protein levels of HIF-1α, CD44, ABCG2, Nanog, SOX2, and Oct4 in the lung cancer nodules were detected by western blot analysis. GADPH expression served as a loading control. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. Error bars represent the mean. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001. CIH chronic intermittent hypoxia, Nor normoxia, CSC cancer stem cell