Figure 3. Inhibition of PI3K diminishes growth of CCSCs in vivo.

Tumor growth curve and immunohistochemistry of resulting xenografts in the presence and absence of LY294002. A. Tumors were initiated with 1000 CCSCs and allowed to grow until the volume was at least 3 mm³. Comparisons were made between groups receiving either drug carrier alone (DMSO) or LY294002 treatment. In the presence of LY294002, tumors were smaller and had increased tumor latency. Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to plot tumor growth (log-rank test, p < 0.001) B. Immunochemistry on xenograft control (DMSO) vs. LY294002 for Ki67, cyclin D1, phosphorylated rpS6, activated caspase3 and CXCL8. Representative images are displayed on the left and graphical enumeration of stained cells/total cells are graphed on the right. Ki67 is associated with cellular proliferation, cyclin D1 is associated with active cell cycling, phosphorylated rpS6 is a downstream effector initiating protein translation during PI3K activation, and cleaved caspase 3 is associated with apoptosis. Size bar = 100 microns.* p<0.05, **** p<0.0001.