Figure 4. Depletion of tumor stroma by FAP-CAR T cells in desmoplastic human lung cancer xenografts.

Established A549 tumor-bearing mice were treated with FAP-CAR human T cells. Tumors were harvested 8 days post-adoptive T cell transfer to evaluate the extent of desmoplasia. (A) Masson's trichrome staining was performed to determine collagen accumulation. (B) IHC was performed to reveal fibronectin content. (C) Alcian blue staining was performed to show total GAGs. Tumor tissues were stained with HABP (D) or anti-versican antibody (E). * and # denote statistical significance between untreated and FAP-CAR T cell-treated samples (n=3), p value < 0.01 and p value < 0.05, respectively. Scale: 100 μm.