CASP3 and neoplasm: We detected levels of several key apoptosis-related proteins by immunoblotting in surgical CRC specimens with matched adjacent normal tissues, and found that the expression of ERp29 and the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 were upregulated in tumor tissues in comparison to normal tissues; while apoptosis markers, including cleaved caspase-3 and PARP, were downregulated in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues (Fig. 5G).