Expression of VE-cadherin and MMP-9 in astrocytoma tissues. (A) Diffuse and (B) anaplastic astrocytomas exhibited weak positive staining for MMP-9. (C) MMP-9 was strongly expressed in glioblastoma tissues. (D) HSCORE of (A-C) (E) VE-cadherin was weakly positive in diffuse astrocytomas, (F) VE-cadherin was moderately expressed in anaplastic astrocytomas and (G) VE-cadherin was strongly expressed in glioblastoma tissues. Both VE-cadherin and MMP-9 were located in the cytoplasm of tumor tissues and vascular endothelial cells. (H) HSCORE of (A-C) Magnification, ×200. **P<0.05 vs. the diffuse astrocytoma group; ##P<0.05 vs. the anaplastic astrocytoma group. MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; VE, vascular endothelial; HSCORE, histological score.