Figure 6. pFZD7-Stx1 reduced tumor burden and improved survival of nude mice with liver tumor xenografts in vivo.

A. The calculated average tumor volumes from the four groups at indicated time points. The average tumor volume after the pFZD7-Stx1 treatment was about 0.38 cm³ at 5 weeks compared with 1.46, 1.40 and 1.49 cm³ average tumor volumes after the PBS (p < 0.01), Mut pFZD7-Stx1 and pFZD7 treatments, (p < 0.01) respectively. Error bars indicate SD. B. The lifespan of xenografted mice after pFZD7-Stx1 treatment, as evaluated by the survival curves. 7 of the 8 mice in the pFZD7-Stx1-treated group were still alive 7 weeks post-injection of plasmids, which was in contrast to 1 of the 8 animals in the PBS, Mut pFZD7-Stx1 and pFZD7-treated groups. C. The levels of cell proliferation and apoptosis in liver tumor xenografts following different treatments. The level of cell PCNA in the pFZD7-Stx1-transfected group was lower than that of other group cells, whereas the cleaved caspase 3 expression in the pFZD7-Stx1-transfected group was higher than that in other groups.