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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Aug 20.
Published in final edited form as: Sci Transl Med. 2014 Aug 20;6(250):250ra115. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3009569

Fig. 8. PGP9.5 and peripherin may represent neural markers for gastric cancer progression.

Fig. 8

(A) Representative microphotographs showing human gastric cancer [indicated by yellow arrowheads, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining] and PGP9.5-labeled nerve (green arrowhead). Scale bars, 50 μm. (B) Volume density of PGP9.5-labeled nerves in different levels of depth of tumor invasion [T2 (tumor invading muscularis propria) versus T3 (tumor penetrating subserosal connective tissue without invasion of visceral peritoneum or adjacent structures)] in the stage II and III gastric cancer patients. Means ± SEM (n = 120). P = 0.008 (Student's t test). (C) Number of lymph node metastases in patients with stage II and III or stage IV gastric cancer that has low or high expression of PGP9.5. Means ± SEM (n = 120). P values were calculated by Student's t test. (D) PGP9.5- and peripherin-immunoreactive nerve densities in gastric mucosa of control mice (nontumor) and MNU-treated mice (tumor). PGP9.5 is a ubiquitin-protein hydrolase that is expressed in the neuronal cell bodies and axons in the central and peripheral nervous system. Peripherin is a type III intermediate filament protein that is expressed in peripheral and some central nervous system neurons. Both can be used as neuronal markers in the gut. Means ± SEM (n = 6 per group). P values were calculated by Student's t test. (E and F) Representative immunohistochemical microphotographs showing PGP9.5 and peripherin (indicated by red arrows) in the nontumor and tumor areas of the mouse stomachs. Scale bars, 20 μm (E) and 40 μm (F).