Fig. 4. Expression of the hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) in development and neoplasia. (A) Relative expression levels of HDGF mRNA (left) and protein (right) in the mouse small intestine at the indicated fetal stages, assessed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and immunoblot analysis, respectively. (B) Localization of HDGF mRNA (top) and protein (bottom) in the fetal mouse small intestine at the indicated developmental stages, as judged by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, respectively. (C) Localization of HDGF in the adult (12-week-old) mouse small intestine, assessed by immunohistochemistry (left) and immunofluorescence (right). Exposure times were increased over fetal samples to permit localization of weaker signals. (D,E) Strong expression of HDGF in human colon tumors (T) relative to adjacent normal (N) mucosa, shown here in representative low- (D, 100x) and high- (E, 600x) magnification photomicrographs. (F) Relative HDGF staining signals in human colon cancer specimens according to the status of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) in the tumor, which was determined separately by the presence or absence of MMR gene (Mlh1 and Msh2) expression.