Fig. 2

The effect of ovarian cycle stage on the 21-gene signature. Mammary tumours were collected from mice at either the estrus (n = 25) or diestrus (n = 28) phase of the ovarian cycle. Expression of the genes included in the 21-gene signature were measured by real-time PCR; including (A) 5 Proliferation (Ki67, Stk15, Birc5, Ccnb1, Mybl2); B 4 Estrogen (Esr1, Pgr, Bcl2, Scube2); C 2 HER2 (Erbb2, Grb7); D 2 Invasion (Mmp11, Cstv); and (E) 3 Other (Gstm1, Bag1, Cd68) group genes. Gene expression was normalised to the average of 5 reference genes (Actb, Gapdh, Rplp0, Gus, Tfrc). Results are presented relative to tumours collected at estrus. All data are presented as mean + SEM. Statistical significance was determined when p ≤ 0.05 using independent t-tests. * signifies p ≤ 0.05