Fig. 2

MMP12 Is Up-regulated in Muscle Tissues and Macrophages of Apc^Min/+ Mice. A MMP12 antibody immunostaining in the muscle of healthy individuals. Scale bar: 2 μm. B Immunostaining of MMP12 in muscle tissue of WT mice and Apc^Min/+ mice. Scale bar: 5 μm. C Quantification of MM12 expression in gastrocnemius tissue was performed by ImageJ software (40X) (*P < 0.05, data are shown as means ± SD; n = 9 per group). D Representative images of dual immnofluorescent staining of macrophages (F4/80 in green) and MMP12 (in red) in WT mice are shown. The yellow areas in the merged images indicate overlapping localization of the red and green signals, indicated by the white arrows. Scale bars: 20 μm. E Quantification of MMP12 mRNA level in peritoneal macrophages isolated from WT mice and Apc^Min/+ mice by qPCR (*P < 0.05; data are shown as the means ± SD; n = 6 per group). F The serum MMP12 levels detected in WT and Apc^Min/+ mice at 9, 15, and 24 weeks old by ELISA (P > 0.05; data are shown as means ± SD; n = 6 per group)