Figure 2.
Primary Mel-STR melanomas give rise to widespread metastases in vivo. Immunocompromised NOD/SCID mice were injected subcutaneously with 5×105 GFP-labeled Mel-STR cells. Organs were harvested at necropsy and were immediately visualized for GFP epifluorescence, or fixed for subsequent paraffin embedding. Images of whole-organs (a,c,e,g) and H&E-stained sections (b,d,f,h) were captured of lungs, livers, spleens, and small intestines taken from representative metastasis-bearing mice. Dashed lines demarcate tumor cell regions. M, metastasis; OP, organ parenchyma; CE, colonic epithelium; BV, blood vessel; LN, lymph node; Intest, small bowel. Arrows in h indicate a front of melanoma cells invading from the outside surface of the small bowel, through the muscularis propria, into the colonic epithelium.