Fig 2: The immunolocalization of GalR1, GalR2 and GalR3 proteins was confined to the cell membrane and cytoplasm of colorectal cancer cells and epithelial cells (enterocytes and goblet cells) of the unchanged mucosa of the large intestine (Figure 3). In addition, the immunoreactivity of GalR1-3 proteins was observed in the cell membrane and cytoplasm of intestinal immune/stromal cells, the myenteric plexuses and smooth muscle cells (unpublished). Negative control was added as inserts in each merged microphotograph.

Fig 3: Kaplan–Meier diagrams that show the relative immunoexpression of galanin receptors (GALR1—(A), GALR2—(B), and GALR3—(C)) in myenteric plexuses (MP) regarding the overall survival of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients (n = 31).

Fig 4: Immunolocalization of galanin receptors (GALR1, GALR2, and GALR3) in submucosal plexuses (SP) close and distant to tumour tissue of colorectal cancer patients (n = 5). Neurons expressing respective GALRs are marked by arrows. Total magnification: 400× g.

Fig 5: Immunoreactivity of three types of galanin receptor GalR1 (A1), GalR2 (B1) and GalR3 (C1) proteins in tumor sections of individual colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is shown in relation to their immunoreactivity in matched sections of unchanged mucosa. The average immunoreactivity of GalR1 (A2), GalR2 (B2), and GalR3 (C2) proteins in CRC cells (grey bars) compared with their immunoexpression in the epithelial cells of unchanged mucosa (white bars) was determined as described in the Methods (n = 55).