Relative RNA expression of <i>Mmp 2</i>, <i>-3</i>, <i>-9</i>, <i>-13</i> in tumor <i>vs</i>. normal lung tissue in K-ras^LSL-G12D mice.

<p>The expression of <i>Mmp-2</i>, <i>-3</i>, <i>-9</i>, and -<i>13</i> in lung lesions vs. normal lung tissue (n = 12 pairs) was compared using boxplots. The transcript level of each <i>Mmp</i> gene was determined by qRT-PCR and normalized against that of the housekeeping gene <i>Hprt</i>. The fold difference between each sample <i>vs</i>. a mouse universal reference total RNA was calculated using the delta delta Ct method. The middle line is the median, and the bottom & top of the box are the 25th and 75th percentiles (inter-quartile range, IQR). The "whiskers”, extending from the ends of the box, represent the most extreme point (≤ 1.5 times the IQR). More extreme points are considered outliers and are plotted separately. Only the relative expression of <i>Mmp-13</i> was significantly higher in cancerous tissue as compared to normal lung tissue (Wilcoxon signed rank test; * indicates a p value <0.01)