Fig. 2 : Mme and Pten cooperate in suppression of prostate carcinogenesis in the proximal regions of prostatic ducts of the mouse.

Proximal (a) and distal (b) regions of prostatic ducts in 16-month-old WT (n = 6), Mme^−/− (n = 15), Pten^PE−/− (n = 14), and Mme^−/−Pten^PE−/− (n = 15) mice. The arrows indicate stromal invasion of adenocarcinoma (HE) in Mme^−/− and Mme^−/−Pten^PE−/− mice and positive immunostained cells. The arrowhead in distal region (HE) indicates vascular invasion in Mme^−/−Pten^PE−/− mice. As compared to the prostate epithelium of WT, Mme^−/−, and Pten^PE−/− mice, adenocarcinomas of Mme^−/−Pten^PE−/− mice show higher expression levels of EZH2 and pAKT, but no differences in AR expression. HE hematoxylin and eosin staining. The ABC Elite method with hematoxylin (pAKT) or methyl green (EZH2, and AR) counterstaining was performed. Scale bar, 60 µm for all images. b, c A quantitative analysis of the proliferation rate (c, e) and frequency of SYP-positive cells (d, f) in proximal (c, d) and distal (e, f) regions of prostatic ducts. Annotations for groups in c–f are shown in c. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001. Error bars denote SD. All results are representative of six mice per genotype.