The Desmoplastic Stroma Plays an Essential Role in the Accumulation and Modulation of Infiltrated Immune Cells in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
Figure 3
The majority of inflammatory factors in PDAC microenvironment were expressed by the stroma cells. Human PDAC tissue sections were immunostained with anti-COX-2, -CCL20, -CCL2, -CXCL8, and -IL-1α antibodies (abs) followed by alkaline phosphatase-conjugated secondary abs and visualized with fast red chromogen. Photographs show the staining (red) for (a) IL-1α positive tumor structures, (b) CXCL8 positive tumor stroma, (c) CCL2 positive fibrotic cells, (d) CCL20 positive tumor and stromal cells, and (e) COX-2 positive tumor cells and stroma. Size bar 20 μm. (f) To evaluate the ratio between tumor cell and stroma expressed COX-2, PDAC tissue sections were immunohistochemically stained with anti-COX-2 (red) and anti-Ki-67 abs (brown), followed by alkaline phosphatase- and HRP-conjugated secondary abs and detected using fast red chromogen and DAB, respectively. Areas of double positive cells (tumor nests) were compared to nonproliferative COX-2 positive stroma using a computerized image processing analysis system. *.
