Figure 3. Treatment of gp130^757FF mice with WP1066 reduces tumour size.

gp130^757FF mice (8 weeks old) were treated i.p with 10 mg/kg of WP1066 or DMSO twice with a gap of one day between doses, followed by doses of 20 mg/kg every 2 days for 2 weeks. Antral tumours in 8 week untreated mice (A) and 10 week DMSO-treated vehicle controls (B) were no different in mean area, however WP1066 treatment resulted in ∼50% smaller tumours (C). This was confirmed by quantitative morphometry (D) where antral tumours were significantly smaller in WP1066 mice compared to 10 w.o. DMSO controls and 8 w.o. untreated mice (n = 7–10; p<0.05). The effect of WP1066 on cell proliferation was assessed by staining sections with an antibody for Ki-67. There was a significant decrease in the number of Ki-67 positive cells per gland in the WP1066 treated mice (F) compared to controls (E) and quantified graphically (G). The number of apoptotic cells quantified after caspase 3 staining of antral sections of a DMSO control (H) and WP1066 (I) mouse, and was quantified by counting stained cells/mm² of gastric mucosa (J).