Changes in Cytokines of the Bone Microenvironment during Breast Cancer Metastasis

Figure 3

Comparison of bone cytokine levels in mice inoculated with PBS, MDA-MB-231^GFP or MDA-MB-231BRMS1^GFP, cells. Mice were inoculated and femurs processed as described in Section 2. Cytokine values were log₁₀ transformed for analysis and graphic comparison of each postinjection group. Statistical significance is shown for comparison to PBS unless otherwise noted with a bracket. The only significant difference shown on day 3 post injection was for VEGF which was higher in 231-injected mice than in BRMS1. On day 11, VEGF and MIG were slightly higher in BRMS1 injected mice than in 231, while IL-6 values were higher in 231 injected mice than in PBS. On day 19, the only cytokine that varied significantly was MIG, with higher values for 231 and BRMS1 mice than in the control animals. In later stage metastasis (day 27), the levels for 4 (MCP-1, VEGF, MIG, and eotaxin) of the 6 cytokines were significantly higher in both the 231-and the BRMS1-injected mice when compared to PBS. IL-6 levels were lower in animals injected with 231 cells. KC levels did not vary between groups at any of the time points. ***𝑃<0.001; **𝑃=0.01–0.001; *𝑃=0.05–0.01. 𝑛=8.