Fig. 1

Changes in AHR activity in lung macrophages prior to breast cancer metastasis. a Heatmap showing AHR and its downstream gene expression in lung macrophages at indicated timepoints post primary 4T1 tumor establishment. b Representative immunofluorescent staining of AHR nuclear translocation in CD45⁺ CD11b⁻ CD11c⁺ SiglecF⁺ macrophages from the lungs of mice bearing 4T1 tumors for 14 days (n = 15 for each group, repeated twice). The scale bars, 60 µm. The scale bars in the enlarged images, 30 µm. The column bars show the coefficient of AHR nuclear translocation in macrophages. c Western blotting analysis and quantification of AHR levels in peritoneal macrophages treated with serum from mice bearing 4T1 tumors for 14 days (repeated four times). d Western blotting analysis of AHR levels in peritoneal macrophages treated with 4T1-conditioned medium (CM) for indicated times. e Representative immunofluorescent staining of AHR nuclear translocation in peritoneal macrophages with or without 4T1-CM treatment. Scale bars, 60 µm. Scale bars in the enlarged images, 30 µm. Data are analyzed by unpaired two-tailed t-test (b) or paired two-tailed t-test (c) and presented as mean ± SEM (b) or symbols & lines (c). *p < 0.05, ****p < 0.0001