Fig. 4

Expression of α5- and β1-integrin subunit in the MB49-Luc bladder cancer model. Representative immunohistochemistry photomicrographs of the expression of α5- and β1-integrin subunit in different areas of the bladder of a tumor-bearing mice, 11 days after intravesical instillation of MB49-Luc cells. This mouse developed two MB49-Luc tumors (T) with different size. L, lumen of the urinary bladder; Red dashed rectangle: zoomed areas. Zoomed area 1: healthy bladder, black arrows indicate the urothelial cells. Zoomed area 2: Inner MB49-Luc tumor. Zoomed area 3: Small tumor. The small tumor, but not the big one, is almost completely covered by 2–5 layers of α5-negative urothelial cells (blue arrows). Scale bar is shown in each panel. Immunostaining was performed as described previously [15]. See also Additional File 1: Fig. S7