Fig. 5

Collagen fibril organization. Transmission electron microscopy pictures from the xenograft tumors were scored from 1 to 4 according to collagen organization. The average collagen organization score per tumor in MDA-MB-231 (a) and MDA-MB-468 mammary fat pad tumors (b) were lower in α11-KO mice compared to WT (n = 8 WT and n = 7 α11-KO mice in both models). No difference was found in the MDA-MB-231 subcutaneous tumors (c) (n = 5). Mean ± SD. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. Examples of the different scoring values from MDA-MB-468 tumors are shown in (d) (1- highly disorganized, 2-moderately disorganized, 3-moderately organized and 4-highly organized). Scale bars indicate 0.5 μm