Fig. 2

a Schematic overview of the surgical implantation of tumor pieces into the liver and a subcutaneous site. Tumor mass was generated in donor mice following injection of UM001 and UM004 cell lines to the liver, as described in Fig. 1a. Tumor mass was harvested from the donor mouse and cut into 1 mm cubes. These small tumor pieces were transplanted into the liver or a subcutaneous site of recipient mice. UM001- and UM004-derived tumor pieces were separately implanted into the liver in 10 mice for each cell line. Five mice were sacrificed at 1 day after implantation. The remaining five mice were sacrificed at 8 weeks after implantation for UM001, or 4 weeks after implantation for UM004, respectively. Furthermore, UM001- and UM004-derived tumor pieces were also separately implanted into the subcutaneous site in five mice for each cell line. The five mice were sacrificed at the same time points as the liver tumor-bearing mice. b–i Histopathological features of implanted tumors in the liver at 1 day post implantation using established cell lines. b, f Laparotomy image. c, g Macroscopic findings for resected tumor. d, h Cut surface of the tumor. e, i H&E staining, ×40, Scale bar 500 µm