Fig. 5From: Osteoblasts are “educated” by crosstalk with metastatic breast cancer cells in the bone tumor microenvironmentEOs are present in patient samples of bone metastatic breast cancer. Human patient samples of bone metastatic breast cancer were stained using multi-plex immunofluorescence for RUNX2 (green), osteocalcin (OCN, red), IL-6 (purple), and alpha-SMA (yellow). Left panel—osteoblast identification: white arrows show osteoblasts positive for both RUNX2 and OCN. Middle panel—“uneducated” and “educated” osteoblast identification: blue arrows show “uneducated” osteoblasts alpha-SMA and IL-6 positive; yellow arrows show “educated” osteoblasts alpha-SMA high, but IL-6 low; purple arrows show “educated” osteoblasts IL-6 high, but alpha-SMA low. Right panel—“educated” osteoblast identification: green arrows show “educated” osteoblasts both IL-6 and alpha-SMA low, DAPI positive. T, tumor; arrows, osteoblast. DAPI, nuclear stain. Scale bar = 50 μmBack to article page