Fig. 2
From: Breast cancer bone metastases are attenuated in a Tgif1-deficient bone microenvironment
Tgif1 deficiency reduces the presence of single tumor cells and micro-metastases in the bone microenvironment. a Schematic presentation of the experimental outline to determine the role of Tgif1 during the establishment and progression of breast cancer bone metastases in 8–10-week-old female BALB/c mice with a germ line deletion of Tgif1 (Tgif1−/−) or control littermates (Tgif1+/+). i.c., intra cardiac injection. b Presence of single tumor cells and micro-metastases in the tibiae 5 days after tumor cell injection (n = 9 for Tgif1+/+, n = 12 for Tgif1−/−). c, d Representative confocal images of gelatin-embedded tibiae from Tgif1+/+ (c) and Tgif1−/− (d) mice stained for the vascular endothelial cell marker Endomucin (red) and breast cancer cells (green). GP, growth plate. Scale bar indicates 100 μm. e–g Representative images showing the proximity of breast cancer cells (green) to Endomucin-positive vascular endothelial cells (red) (e) and Osterix-positive osteoblasts (red) (f, g) is indicated by yellow arrowheads. Tb, trabecular bone. Scale bar indicates 50 μm