Dissecting characteristics and dynamics of differentially expressed proteins during multistage carcinogenesis of human colorectal cancer

Figure 3 K-mean clusters of differentially expressed proteins. These proteins could be clustered into nine clusters. According to the average tendency, the nine clusters can be arbitrarily categorized into three groups. Group 1 includes clusters 1 and 5, in which the abundance of proteins progressively increased during the colon carcinogenic process. Group 2 consists of clusters 2 and 7, in which the abundance of proteins progressively decreased during the process. Group 3 consists of clusters 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9, in which the abundance of proteins was significantly up-regulated or down-regulated in certain stages of the process.