Fig. 6

Expression of NCX1, NCX2, and NCX3 in primary and metastatic sites. (×400). a–c In the primary tumor site, heteromorphism of the glands was very obvious, and the degree of differentiation was moderate, as determined. The expression strengths of NCX1 (a), NCX2 (b), and NCX3 (c) in colonic malignant glands decreased more obviously. d–f The expression intensity of NCXs at lymph node metastasis sites decreased more significantly than that at primary sites. d The expression of NCX1 was weak in malignant glands compared with lymph node metastasis sites. There were nearly no positive NCX2 (e) and NCX3 (f) cells at the lymph node metastasis sites. g–i The expression of NCXs in normal hepatocytes (black arrows) at liver metastasis sites was obvious, and the strength of NCX1 staining (g; white arrow) was higher than that of NCX2 (h; white arrow) and NCX3 (i; white arrow). NCXs were almost not expressed in malignant glands (g, h, i; white arrows). The IOD is represented by a histogram (j–l)