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Figure 1 | Breast Cancer Research

Figure 1

From: MMP-13 stimulates osteoclast differentiation and activation in tumour breast bone metastases

Figure 1

MMP-13 and MT1-MMP are expressed in human breast cancer bone metastasis. A. Representative immunohistochemical images of MMP-13 and MT1-MMP expression in serial paraffin-embedded human bone metastasis. The positive staining of the two enzymes is associated to tumour cells as indicated by co-localization with pan-citokeratins (lower panel). Magnification of the insets is provided on the right. The black arrowheads in the insets of MMP-13 and MT1-MMP immunostaining indicate a cluster of cancer cells in the bone marrow inter-trabecular space, which express both MMP-13 and MT1-MMP. Scale bar = 100 μm. B. MMP-13 expression in bone metastases from invasive ductal breast cancer. MMP-13 expression is detected on neoplastic cells with a variable staining intensity ranging from slight (left) to marked (right). Scale bar = 100 μm. C. MMP-13 and MT1-MMP are associated in metastatic invasive breast cancer cells at tumour-bone interface (red asterisk). Scale bar = 50 μm. D. Histotype and grade status, ER, PR, HER2 and Ki-67 positivity for each patient whose bone metastases were examined for MMP-13 and MT1-MMP expression by immunohistochemistry.

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