Figure 7: Laminin polymers are essential to maintain capillary networks and tumour progression.
From: Structural decoding of netrin-4 reveals a regulatory function towards mature basement membranes
(a) Visualization of capillaries via FITC-dextran injection of untreated (ctrl), Net4-FL- and Net4-FLE195A,R199A-treated CAMs after 48 h. The vascularized area from different protein treatments (left) was determined (see Methods section) at 48 h (mean±s.d.; n=5; ****P<0.0001). Error bars, s.d. (n=5 independent cell cultures). (b) H&E staining of untreated (ctrl) and Net4-FL-, and Net4-FLE195A,R199A-treated CAMs after 48 h. Red lines and red arrow heads indicate the capillary density (capillaries are labelled with C). (c) Diagram showing the tumour treatment regimen. (d) Macroscopic images of melanoma treated daily with 1 μM of control protein (mouse serum albumin, left), Net4-FL (middle), Net4-FLE195A,R199A (right). (e) Progression of melanoma treated with Net4-FL and the laminin γ1 binding mutant Net4-FLE195A,R199A (mean±s.d.; n=5; ****P<0.0001). Error bars, s.d. (n=5 animals, female C57BL/6). P values, two sided t-test. Scale bars, 100 μm (a); 20 μm (b); and 5 mm (d).
