Influence of Morphine on Pericyte-Endothelial Interaction: Implications for Antiangiogenic Therapy
Figure 5
Morphine stimulates vessel-associated PDGFR-β expression in mouse tumors. C3TAG mice were treated with morphine or PBS as described in Figure 3 and the methods. (a) Tumor sections were immunostained with anti-CD31 (green) and anti-PDGFR-β (red). Vasculature from morphine-treated mouse tumors shows strong costaining for PDGFR-β, whereas PDGFR-β staining is predominantly observed in nonvascular compartments of PBS-treated mouse tumors. Vessel-associated PDGFR-β is observed only near the branch points of vasculature in PBS-treated group (orange arrows). Each image represents 5 different tumors from 5 different mice per treatment. Magnification ×900. (b) Ratios of PDGFR-β to CD31, immunoreactive pixels are shown. A significant difference is observed in PDGFR-β/CD31 ratio between morphine and PBS treatment. Each bar represents mean ± SEM of immunoreactive pixels from five tumors (3 different sections of each tumor) obtained from 5 different mice per treatment.
