Figure 5

MUC4/Y contributed to increase tumor growth with rising proliferative activity and MVD and decreased apoptosis in vivo. (A) In vivo BLI showing the tumor growth rates over time in the subcutaneous model. Up: Representative luminescence images for each group. Down: Tumor growth rates indicated by bioluminescence (photons/s) in PANC-1-MUC4/Y-Luc (n = 6) and control (n = 6) BALB/c nude mice at 2 hours and 3, 10, 15, 21, 26, 30 days after tumor cell injection; bars, SE. *P <0.05, ***P <0.001. (B) Subcutaneous tumors and their size (mm) from two groups measured at the 30-day time point when mice were sacrificed. Scatter dot, tumor size of every mouse; the center horizontal line, mean. *P <0.05. (C) Histological and IHC analysis of subcutaneous tumors. Histologically, there was no difference between subcutaneous tumors of the PANC-1-MUC4/Y-Luc group and control groups (H&E staining, ×400 magnification). Ki67, TUNEL, and CD31 staining is of paraffin-embedded sections from solid tumors. Micrographs are representative images of two groups (Ki67, TUNEL, CD31: ×400, 200, 100 magnification, respectively). Charts depict the mean proportion of Ki67- and TUNEL-positive cells and the average number of CD31-positive microvessels per field, respectively. Five fields per slide and at least five slides per group were examined and compared using the Student t-test. Columns, mean; bars, SD; *P <0.05.