Figure 1.

Schematic summary of the experimental protocols. Mice were injected with 4T1-GFP cells via the tail vein under intraperitoneal (i.p.) anesthesia, with or without MV. Twenty-four hours later, the mice were sacrificed for analysis of lung 4T1 tumor cells retention (Protocol A). In Protocol B, 4T1 cells were inoculated into the mammary fat pad of 6-week-old female BALB/c mice. Fourteen days later, mastectomy was done under i.p. anesthesia with or without MV. The mice were sacrificed at Day 28 for the lung metastasis assay as described in the “Materials and methods” section.

Abbreviations: d, days; h, hours; MV, mechanical ventilation.