Figure 2
From: β1 integrin deletion enhances progression of prostate cancer in the TRAMP mouse model
Ablation of β1 integrin does not affect prostate tissue maintenance, but perturbs epithelial cell population numbers and differentiation in androgen-rescued castrated mice.
a) H&E staining of 26 wk old Itgβ1fl/fl;WT and Itgβ1fl/fl;Cre prostates reveal no gross morphological differences between the genotypes. Scale bar, 50 μm. b) Schematic representation of the timeline used for castration and subsequent testosterone supplementation. c) p63 immuno-staining of dorsal prostates reveal an up-regulation of the number of basal epithelial (p63-positive, arrowheads) cells in Itgβ1fl/fl;Cre animals. Scale bar, 25 μm. d) Quantitation of the number of p63- stained cells per acinus was performed and is represented as a percentage of total epithelial cells. * p<0.0001. e) Immuno-staining using anti-Mist1 antibodies reveals almost all luminal epithelial cells to be strongly stained in Itgβ1fl/fl;WT tissue (arrows), whereas in Itgβ1fl/fl;Cre samples, a number of luminal cells have low/absent staining (arrowheads), possibly indicating a delay or defect in differentiation caused by loss of β1 integrin. f) Quantitation of Mist1 staining in Itgb1fl/fl;WT (dark boxes) and Itgβ1fl/fl;Cre animals (white boxes). Cells were judged to be positive (high and low) or negative for Mist1 staining. *p<0.0001 Scale bar, 25 μm.
