Innovative immunohistochemistry identifies MMP-9 expressing macrophages at the invasive front of murine HCC

Figure 1 Macroscopic and histological aspect of HCC in BALB/c-Abcb4^-/--mice. A: Representative macroscopic view of BALB/c-Abcb4^-/--mouse liver at one year of age. Typically, one prominent tumor and a number of smaller tumors are visible; B: Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained liver section of the invasive tumor front (tumor on the upper right, fibrotic parenchyma on the lower left side, dashed line: HCC tumor capsule, bar represents 100 μm); C: Fifty-fold enlarged Sirius red (SR) stained liver section photographed under polarized light (PL, bar represents 400 μm). Fibrillar collagens appear in red. The tumor capsule is rich in collagen, whereas tumor stroma appears collagen-free.