Fig. 1.
Establishment of a novel orthotopic mouse model of HCC in immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice. C57BL/6 mice were administered two different doses of MTD2 tumorigenic hepatocytes (5×105 and 5×106 cells per mouse) via four distinct routes including i.v. (tail vein), subcutaneous, i.p. and ISPL inoculation. The survival of mice was monitored over time. (A) Survival curve of mice inoculated with SV40 Tag transgenic hepatocytes under the distinct ways of injection. Upper, mice were inoculated with freshly isolated primary Tag transgenic hepatocytes; Lower, mice were inoculated with cultured Tag transgenic hepatocytes (B) Tumor within the liver was detected by MRI at 4 weeks post inoculation of SV40 Tag transgenic hepatocytes (C) Gross image of tumor shown in B and (D) Tag within the tumor was detected by IHC. The arrow indicates one of many Tag+ cells in the field.