Figure 8. The antitumour and gene knockdown effects of GNC–siRNA complex in orthotopic pancreatic PDX tumours.

(a) Scheme of the establishment of PDX tumour model. Patient-derived pancreatic tumours were trimmed, cut into fragments with similar sizes and transplanted into the pancreas head of the Balb/c nude mice. (b) Scheme of siRNA treatments. Two weeks after PDX tumour transplantation, mice were randomly divided into different groups and injected with various siRNA formulations through tail veil for six injections. The mice were killed on day 28. (c) The effect of different siRNA treatments on the changes of mouse body weight. (d) Representative images of the orthotopic PDX tumours in pancreas with associated spleen on day 28, tumours were indicated in red circles. (e) Tumour images and (f) tumour weight measured on day 28. Scale bar, 5 mm. (g) Representative images and quantification of tumour metastases into mesenteries. Tumour metastases were magnified and indicated by red circles. (h) NGF mRNA and (i) NGF protein level in the PDX tumours. (j) Representative images of the IF staining of NGF protein (red) in the PDX tumours. (k) Images of IF staining of neurites in PDX tumours. Neurites were stained with neurofilament antibody (red). The cell nuclei were stained with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI; blue). Scale bars, 20 μm. (l) Quantification of neurite density in the PDX tumours. Mean±s.d. (n=5–6 per group). Significant difference was from the saline control, *P<0.01, **0.01<P<0.05; Student's t-test.