Figure 4

Assessment of tumor malignancy based on CD31, MMP13 and TGF-β1 expression. (A) H&E staining of sliced tissue samples from Non-Rec and Rec tumors. Areas containing angiogenic features are demarcated by the red lines and indicated with yellow arrows. The yellow arrow-heads indicated the elongated fibroblast. An enlarged view of the angiogenic area is shown to the right of each sample. (B) Immunofluorescent staining of Non-Rec and Rec tumor tissue samples for CD31 and MMP13. Colocalized staining of CD31 and MMP13 is indicated by the white arrows. (C) The bar graph demonstrates the difference in microvascular density (MVD) between the groups. (D) The ELISA assay showed that TGF-β1 was expressed in a recurrence-status-dependent manner, because the level of released TGF-β1 was lower in the culture medium from the Non-Rec group than from the Rec group. Scale bar = 100 μm in the H&E images; Scale bar = 200 μm in the Immunofluorescent images. *, p < 0.05.