Fig. 1

Gene expression profiling of BCC, SCC, and psoriasis. (a) Clinical and histological features of the samples. Clinical appearance (upper panel): Translucent papule of nodular-type BCC (left), ulcerated SCC tumor (middle), and sharply demarcated erythematous plaque of psoriasis with micaceous scale (right). Histology (lower panel): Tumor nests with basaloid cells of BCC (left), invasive squamous tumor cells of SCC (middle) and hyperplastic epidermis with elongated rete ridges and inflammation in psoriasis (right). (b) Hierarchical clustering analysis. All genes shown have >2-fold changes in gene expression levels in at least one of the disorders studied. Rows represent genes on the microarray with their corresponding names to the right. Columns represent individual patients. Relative pseudo-colored intensities demonstrate gene expression changes such that red color indicates an increase in gene expression whereas green color indicates a decrease. Color scale shown at bottom. The hierarchical clustering dendrogram of relatedness of gene function is shown on the left. (c) Confirmatory Northern analysis. NL = normal site-matched control from the same patient. (d) Confirmatory in situ hybridization analysis. Dotted lines define the junction between epidermis (E) and dermis (D). The 10× field (boxed in the 2.5× field) shows strong MMP-1 expression in deeply invasive tumor islands. Scale bars = 200 μm for 2.5× low power fields and 50 μm for 10× fields