B2 adrenergic receptors and morphological changes of the enteric nervous system in colorectal adenocarcinoma

Figure 3 Expression of beta-2 adrenergic receptors in the normal and tumor peripheral nervous tissue on serial sections immunostained for S100 protein (A, C, E, G) and B2A (B, b1; D; d1; F, f1; H, h1). Spectral unmixing showed that in the normal submucosal (b1) and myenteric (d1) plexuses, B2A was mostly expressed in the cytoplasm of the ganglion cells, being absent in small nerves dissecting the muscularis proper layer (C and D). Even in larger non-invaded nerves B2A showed a faint expression (E-F, f1 spectral unmixing). However, in invaded ganglia (G, g1) and nerves (H, h1) its expression seems to be expressed in both the cytoplasm of the ganglion cells (arrows in g1 - unmixed), as well as in the larger nerve bundles (h1 - unmixed). Small letters represent enlarged insets from the capital lettered images.