Figure 1.

Min mice lacking MMP-9 develop fewer macroscopically visible intestinal tumours than littermates, but MMP-2, -12 or -19 ablation does not affect tumour multiplicity. (a) Min mice deficient for MMP-2 developed a similar number of tumours as wild type littermates. A total of 20 Min mice, 7 Min-MMP-2 (APC^Min/+; MMP-2^−/− open diamonds) and 13 Min (APC^Min/+;MMP-2^+/+ closed diamonds) were analysed for tumour multiplicity; bar, mean. Difference is not statistically significant. (b) MMP-9 deficient Min mice develop significantly fewer tumours than wild-type or heterozygous littermates. A total of 32 mice, 21 deficient for MMP-9 (APC^Min/+;MMP-9^−/− open diamonds) and 11 littermate controls (APC^Min/+;MMP-9^+/+ closed diamonds) were counted for tumours; bar, mean. *, P < 0.05, difference is statistically significant, Mann–Whitney U-test. (c) Mice deficient for MMP-12 develop a similar number of tumours as do wild type littermates. A total of 26 mice, 16 Min-MMP-12 (APC^Min/+; MMP-12^−/− open diamonds) and 10 littermate controls (APC^Min/+;MMP-12^+/+ closed diamonds) were counted for tumour multiplicity; bar, mean. Difference is not statistically significant. (d) Mice deficient for MMP-19 develop a similar number of tumours as do wild type littermates. A total of 18 mice, nine deficient for MMP-19 (APC^Min/+; MMP-19^−/− open diamonds) and nine littermate controls (APC^Min/+; MMP-19^+/+ closed diamonds) were counted for tumours; bar, mean. Difference is not statistically significant.