Figure 2.

Cytokine levels in bone diaphysis versus bone epiphysis. Athymic nude mice received intracardiac inoculations of either PBS, MDA-MB-231^GFP, or MDA-MB-231BRMS1^GFP cells. Femurs were harvested at days 3, 11, 19, and 27 after inoculation and separated into shafts and ends. Shown here are the results from day 19, but the results were similar for the other days. Bone sections were crushed and cultured in serum-free medium for 24 hours. Resulting supernatants were assayed for MCP-1 (a), IL-6 (b), MIG (c), VEGF (d), eotaxin (e) and KC (f). MIP-2 values were very small or below the level of detection and were not included. With the exception of MIG, the cytokine levels were significantly higher in the ends of the femur than in the shaft. ***P < 0.001; **P = 0.01–0.001. n = 8 for each group.