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. 2002 Jun 11;99(13):8927–8931. doi: 10.1073/pnas.132275099

Figure 4.

Figure 4

APC and β-catenin staining of human adenomas. (A–E) APC staining. (F–J) β-catenin staining. (A and F) Normal human intestinal epithelial cells stain heavily for APC. In addition, β-catenin is found at the lateral edges of cells, but not in the nucleus. (B and G) Sporadic human adenoma cells do not express APC, but display lateral β-catenin localization. Importantly, although the level of cytoplasmic β-catenin may be increased, there is very little β-catenin in the nucleus. (C and H) Adenomas from familial adenomatous polyposis patients look similar to sporadic human adenomas. (D and I) Sporadic human adenocarcinomas fail to express APC. In contrast to normal tissue and benign adenomas, however, adenocarcinomas show bright nuclear β-catenin staining (white arrow). (E and J) Adenomas from Min/+ animals fail to express Apc. An adjacent normal crypt is shown to express Apc (black arrow). Interestingly, β-catenin is often found in the nucleus of Min adenoma cells. (Scale bar: A–E, 25 μm; F–J, 5 μm.)