Fig. 4.

Zebrafish xenografts of human prostate cancer cells. A–D: Bright filed image in (A), and the corresponding red (605) fluorescent image in (B) demonstrating efficient labeling of DU145 cells with quantum dots-605 (QD) in nearly all the cells in the field. C–D: Histological H&E sections from a control non-transplanted zebrafish muscle tissues in (C), compared to a muscle section from DU145 TICs transplanted fish in (D). Section demonstrates tumor infiltrates with cells resembling morphology of DU145 cells in fish tissues. Scale bar is 100 μM in (A–D). E: Kaplan Meier survival curve of embryos transplanted with normal prostate cells and multiple PCa cells lines using three fractions; parental (blue), 5′ adherent α2β1^hi/CD44^hi cells (TICs) (red), and 20-min non-adherent α2β1^low/CD44^low (green) cells. Embryos transplanted with cancer cells had significantly shorter survival rates compared to normal prostate cells due to the rapid development of disseminated tumors. The TICs fraction induced significantly higher mortality rates from tumor growth with DU145, PC3 and CWR22 but not LnCap cells when compared to parental and non-TICs transplants.