Microscopic evaluation of pro–MMP–9 immunohistochemical reaction correlates to the mean signal intensity of cytoplasmic antigen expression – a study of regenerating liver after treatment with interferon α2b
Katarzyna Gawron, Grażyna Spausta, Brygida Adamek, Adam Szpakowski, Jerzy Ihnatowicz, Sławomir Kasperczyk, Agata Stanek, Katarzyna Stęplewska, Aleksander Sieroń, Andrzej Gabriel, Andrzej Wiczkowski

Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of IFNα2b on pro–MMP–9 antigen expression in regenerating liver by using two methods and verify the correlation between results obtained by these methods. The study was performed in a model of hepatectomized rats. Group I was treated with IFNα2b and group II was injected with NaCl. Microscopic analysis comprised counting of pro–MMP–9 immunopositive cells, while the second method comprised mean signal intensity analysis of pro–MMP–9 immunohistochemical reaction by using Matlab. The results revealed that IFNα affects liver regeneration through modulatory effect on pro–MMP–9 antigen expression. Moreover, we found that antigen expression was regulated in a different manner in heterogeneous liver areas. We also conclude that the analysis of mean signal intensity performed by Matlab constitutes an interesting tool for evaluation of cytoplasmic expression of antigens that belong to matrix metalloproteinase family.

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