Fig. 4.

Expression of CD109, PTGFRN, PROCR, and ITGA6 in xenograft tumors. Non-metastatic and metastatic cells were implanted subcutaneously in the abdominal area of immunosuppressed mice. Tumors were excised and prepared for histological analyses. Higher expression of CD109 (B), PTGFRN (E), PROCR (H), and ITGA6 (K) was detected in the metastatic tumors than in the non-metastatic ones (A, D, G, and J). The appropriate control IgGs were used to show the background of the assay (C, F, I, and L). In paraffin embedded sections (A–F) primary antibodies were detected by using the TSA-kit and the signal was visualized with the AEC-reagent. Cryo sections (G–H) were stained for the presence of ITGA6 (red) using anti-ITGA6 antibodies followed by an Alexa-594 conjugated secondary antibody. Nuclei were visualized with DAPI (blue). Original magnification of A–I, 200×; J–L, 100×. Scale bar 20 µm. Images were digitally cropped in Photoshop CS4. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)