1. Fig. 1. Immunostaining for AhR in non-neoplastic urothelium ( A ), superficial UC ( B ) and invasive UC ( C ). ( A ) Weak cytoplasmic staining in the non-neoplastic urothelium. ( B ) Moderate cytoplasmic staining in superficial UC. ( C ) Strong nuclear staining in invasive UC. The arrowheads indicate lymphocytes. The horizontal lines represent the scale bar of 100 μm.
From: Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway enhances cancer cell invasion by upregulating the MMP expression and is associated with poor prognosis in upper urinary tract urothelial cancer
Carcinogenesis. 2009;31(2): doi: /carcin/bgp222
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2. Fig. 2. The Kaplan–Meier analysis of the progression-free survival of the patients after surgery for UC according to the AhR expression ( A ), pathological T stage ( B ) and LVI ( C ), and the three risk groups that are stratified according to the risk factors (pathological stage, LVI and AhR) ( D ). The Kaplan–Meier analysis of the disease-specific survival of the patients after surgery for UC according to the AhR expression ( E ), pathological T stage ( F ), LVI ( G ) and the three risk groups that are stratified according to risk factors (pathological stage, LVI and AhR) ( H ).
From: Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway enhances cancer cell invasion by upregulating the MMP expression and is associated with poor prognosis in upper urinary tract urothelial cancer
Carcinogenesis. 2009;31(2): doi: /carcin/bgp222
Carcinogenesis | © The Author Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please

3. Fig. 4. Two siRNA for AhR downregulated the mRNA expression of AhR, CYPs and MMPs in T24 cells and inhibited invasion in vitro . T24 cells transfected with siRNA for AhR showed significantly lower expression levels of AhR ( A ), CYP1A1 ( B ), CYP1B1 ( C ), MMP-1 ( D ), MMP-2 ( E ) and MMP-9 ( F ) in comparison with the cells with non-targeting siRNA. Bars indicate the mean ± SE. ( G ) The cells that invaded through the BD Matrigel™ Basement Membrane Matrix were stained with Diff-Quik. ( H ) The number of cells that invaded through the BD Matrigel™ Basement Membrane Matrix was significantly lower among the cells transfected with siRNA for AhR in comparison with those with non-targeting siRNA. Bars, mean ± SE ( n  = 3); * P < 0.05.
From: Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway enhances cancer cell invasion by upregulating the MMP expression and is associated with poor prognosis in upper urinary tract urothelial cancer
Carcinogenesis. 2009;31(2): doi: /carcin/bgp222
Carcinogenesis | © The Author Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please

4. Fig. 3. TCDD upregulated mRNA expression of AhR, CYPs and MMPs and invasiveness of T24 cells compared with the cells treated with 0.1% DMSO. After different concentrations of TCDD treatment for 24 h, AhR expression was upregulated in a dose-dependent manner ( A ). Ten nanometers TCDD treatment upregulated the mRNA expression of CYP1A1 ( B ), CYP1B1 ( C ), MMP-1 ( D ) and MMP-9 ( F ), but not MMP-2 ( E ) in comparison with cells treated with 0.1% DMSO. The cells that invaded through the BD Matrigel™ Basement Membrane Matrix were stained with Diff-Quik ( G ). The number of cells that invaded through the BD Matrigel™ Basement Membrane Matrix was significantly higher among the cells with TCDD treatment in comparison with the cells treated with 0.1% DMSO. ( H ). Bars, mean ± SE ( n  = 3); * P < 0.05; n.s., non-significant.
From: Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway enhances cancer cell invasion by upregulating the MMP expression and is associated with poor prognosis in upper urinary tract urothelial cancer
Carcinogenesis. 2009;31(2): doi: /carcin/bgp222
Carcinogenesis | © The Author Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please