Synergy between a plasminogen cascade and MMP-9 in autoimmune disease
J. Clin. Invest. Zhi Liu, et al. 115:879 doi:10.1172/JCI23977 [Go to this article.]

Figure 3
MC activation in Plg- and tuPA-deficient mice. WT, Plg^–/–, and tuPA^–/– mice were injected i.d. with pathogenic IgG (R530; 2.64 mg/g body weight). At 2 hours after injection, when MC degranulation reached the peak level, skin sections were stained with toluidine blue solution. (A–D) Toluidine blue staining showed similar degrees of MC degranulation in pathogenic IgG-injected WT and deficient mice. (E) The MCs in the dermis were counted and classified as degranulated (more than 10% of the granules exhibiting fusion or discharge) or normal (see Methods). There was no significant difference in MC degranulation among these mice (mean ± SEM). Arrows indicate MCs.