Upregulation of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 in Irradiated Recipient Arteries and Veins from Free Tissue Transfer Reconstruction in Cancer Patients

Figures

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  Figure 1. Serpine1 gene (PAI-1) expression is higher in irradiated arteries (XRT) vs unirradiated arteries (0XRT; ddCt), in relation to PGK1 (dCt), p = 0.012.

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  Figure 2. Serpine1 gene (PAI-1) expression is higher in irradiated veins (XRT) vs unirradiated veins (0XRT; ddCt), in relation to GAPDH (dCt), p < 0.001.

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  Figure 3. Immunohistochemistry showing PAI-1-positive cells (black arrows) in the adventitia of an irradiated artery (a), with a close-up showing the morphology of one such cell (b). Similarly, PAI-1-positive cells were found in the tunica externa of irradiated veins (c), with (d) a shown close-up of one such cell (scale bar = 50 μm).

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  Figure 4. Double-labelling of PAI-1 (red) and CD68 (green) in an irradiated artery. Arrowheads indicate colocalization of PAI-1 and CD68, suggesting that PAI-1 is expressed in macrophages. Arrows indicate cells with PAI-1 expression but no CD68 expression. Nuclear stain (DAPI) is shown in blue (scale bar = 50 μm).

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  Figure 5. Double-labelling of PAI-1 (red) and CD45 (green) in an irradiated artery. Arrowheads indicate colocalization of PAI-1 and CD45, suggesting expression of PAI-1 in leukocytes. Nuclear stain (DAPI) is shown in blue (scale bar = 50 μm).

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  Figure 6. Double-labelling of PAI-1 (red) and α-SMA (green) in an irradiated artery. Arrowheads indicate colocalization of PAI-1 and α-SMA, suggesting expression of PAI-1 in myofibroblasts. Arrows indicate cells with PAI-1 expression but no α-SMA expression. Nuclear stain (DAPI) is shown in blue (scale bar = 50 μm).

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  Figure 7. Double-labelling of PAI-1 (red) and CD45 (green) in an irradiated vein. Arrowheads indicate colocalization of PAI-1 and CD45, indicating expression of PAI-1 in leukocytes. Arrows indicate cells with PAI-1 expression but no CD45 expression. Nuclear stain (DAPI) is shown in blue (scale bar = 50 μm).

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  Figure 8. Double-labelling of PAI-1 (red) and α-SMA (green) in an irradiated vein. Arrowheads indicate colocalization of PAI-1 and α-SMA, indicating expression of PAI-1 in myofibroblasts. Arrows indicate cells with PAI-1 expression but no α-SMA expression. Nuclear stain (DAPI) is shown in blue (scale bar = 50 μm).