Figure 7. A peptide targeting Cx40 decreases tumoral growth and angiogenesis.

(A and E) Two weeks (15 and 13 days respectively) after the injection of WT mice with either TC-1 (A) or B16 cells (E), the volume of the resulting tumors was significantly lower in the mice which received ⁴⁰Gap27, than in those which received the scrambled version of the peptide. Dots represent individual mice; horizontal lines show geometric (A) and arithmetic (E) mean values. (B and F) the hemoglobin content was also lower in the tumors grown in mice treated with ⁴⁰Gap27 peptide than in those which received the scrambled version of the peptide. (C and G) Immunostaining of vWF revealed a lower density of vessels in the tumors grown in mice which received the ⁴⁰Gap27 peptide. (D and H) Immunostaining of SMA revealed a higher density of SMCs in the tumors induced in mice treated with the ⁴⁰Gap27 peptide. In all bar graphs, data are mean + SEM of 3–9 fields from 3 different mice per group. Significant differences are shown as *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.