FIGURE 3:

Adherens junction proteins are disrupted in Kaposi sarcoma. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections from Kaposi sarcoma lesions and hemangiomas were stained for VE-cadherin or p120 by immunohistochemistry. (A, B) A linear unmixing algorithm was used to estimate diaminobenzidine absorbance, which was then quantified in the endothelial cells lining vascular spaces in each section. Thick line, median; boxes, interquartile range; whiskers, 90% range (n = 116 vessels from four Kaposi sarcoma lesions and 89 vessels from two hemangiomas). (C, D) Kaposi sarcoma spindle cells stained diffusely positive for both VE-cadherin and p120, with only occasional junctional localization (arrowheads). In epidermal keratinocytes overlying the lesion (D, asterisk), p120 maintained junctional localization. Bars, 20 μm (A, B), 100 μm (C, D, main images), 400 μm (insets).