Figure 8.

Human cervical SCC samples show also a high MMP activity and a similar stroma composition as the HaCaT-SCC xenografts. In situ zymography of MMP activity (green) and counterstaining for collagen IV (red) and DAPI (blue) of human samples reveals the strong MMP activity in the invasive cervical SCC (A), whereas the healthy tissue is negative (B). H&E staining demonstrates strong eosin-positive, collagen-enriched stromal strands in the cervical SCC (C) that resemble the strands seen in the s.c. advanced highly invasive HaCaT-ras A-5RT3 tumors, whereas in the healthy cervical tissue (D), no ECM-enriched areas are obvious. (E–G) Immunostaining for SMA-positive fibroblasts and CD68-positive macrophages shows the strong infiltration of these cell types in the cervical SSC (E and G), whereas SMA-positive fibroblasts are absent in healthy cervical tissue, and markedly fewer macrophages are detected (F and H). SMA (green), CD68 (red), and DAPI (blue). Bar, 200 μm.