Figure 6From: Focal adhesion kinase contributes to proliferative potential of ErbB2 mammary tumour cells but is dispensable for ErbB2 mammary tumour induction in vivoFocal adhesion kinase FAK is dispensable for ErbB2 mammary tumour metastasis. (a) FAK and Neu expression in FAKwt/wt (left) and FAKflox/flox (right)/mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV)-NIC end-stage mammary tumours was determined by immunoblotting. Cytokeratin 8 (CK8) was used as a control for epithelial content. β-actin was used as a loading control. Data are representative of at least 10 animals from each genotype. (b) Immunohistochemistry analyses of Cre (upper) and FAK (lower) expression on paraffin sections from FAKflox/flox/MMTV-NIC end-stage mammary tumours. FAK expression is detectable only in the stromal compartment, whereas normal mammary ducts are Cre-positive and FAK-negative. Scale bars: 50 μm. (c) Bar graphs indicate the percentage of FAKwt/wt, FAKflox/wt and FAKflox/flox/MMTV-NIC mice that developed lung metastases. (d) Bar graphs indicate the number of metastatic foci per lung lobe in metastasis-positive animals. Error bars represent standard error of the mean (SEM). No statistically significant differences were observed (Student's t-test).Back to article page