Fig. 4: MGTRMs are a major resource of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and contribute to TNBC angiogenesis.

a Representative fluorescence images of 4T1 tumor (left) and average number of F4/80⁺ cells in a field (right) in TNBC 4 and 10 days after transplantation. 4T1: n = 20, E0771: n = 15, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (t-test). Scale bar = 100 µm. b Representative fluorescence images of 4T1 tumor (left) and average % of the CD31⁺ area (right) in TNBC 4 and 10 days after transplantation. n = 15. ns, not significant, **p < 0.01 (t-test). Scale bar = 100 µm. c Photoacoustic images of blood vessels in mice 10 days after 4T1 cell transplantation in PL- and CL-treated MGFPs. The tumor areas indicated by red squares are enlarged in the right-hand panels. The red dotted circle indicates the tumor area. Scale bar = 5 mm. d–f Percentage of CD11b⁺Ly-6C⁺ monocytes, CD8⁺ T cells, and NK1.1⁺ cells among all tissue cells of TNBC 10 days after transplantation in PL- and CL-treated MGFP. n = 3. ns, not significant (t-test). g Flow cytometry analysis of CD11b⁺F4/80⁺ MGTRMs in tumor-free BALB/c MGFP 1 and 11 days after CL administration. n = 3. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 (t-test). a, b, d–g Error bars indicate s.e.m.