Fig. 8.

In vivo characterization of S100A4 knockdown using an orthotopic spontaneous mouse model. OCTT2 cells were transfected with siS100A4 or siN for 48 h, after which 2 × 10⁵ cells were injected into the base of the tongue of NSG mice. Tumors were grown for 3 weeks, mice were sacrificed, and primary tumors and lungs were collected. A, Representative images of the primary tumor and metastatic lungs. B, Results of the blinded histopathological analysis of H&E slides. C, Weight of the primary tumors, n = 4 per group. No significant differences in the growth of the primary tumor were observed between the groups. D, In vitro cell proliferation assay of OCTT2 cells transfected with siS100A4 showed no significant differences in proliferation rate between siRNA oligos, correlating with in vivo tumor volumes. n = 3. E, Representative images of lung metastasis, necrosis and advanced squamous differentitation. 20× images of the H&E slides. F, Representative images of S100A4 immunohistochemistry of the primary tumors, 10×.