Figure 6.

PEP06 inhibits CRC growth by inhibiting miR‐146b‐5p in vivo. (A) Photographs of LOVO residual tumour xenografts treated with 5% glucose or PEP06 (10 and 20 mg·mL⁻¹). Scale bar: 1 cm. (B) Tumour growth curve showing the suppression of growth of SW620 residual tumour xenograft tumours by PEP06. The average tumour weights in the PEP06 groups were reduced, and the mouse weight was unaffected by PEP06. ^* P < 0.05 by one‐way ANOVA, Dunnett's test: compared with Ctl. (C) Representative in situ hybridization images showing the inverse correlation between PEP06 and the cellular expression of miR‐146b‐5p (dark blue staining). Scale bar: 50 μm. (D) Representative images of tumour sections stained for the EMT‐related and migration markers. Paraffin‐embedded tumour sections were stained for E‐cadherin, vimentin and MMP9 using immunohistochemistry (IHC; brown) on sections to identify tumour cells. Scale bar: 50 μm. IHC results showed that PEP06 can inhibit the expression of vimentin and MMP9 while increasing the level of E‐cadherin. The integral optical density (IOD) of E‐cadherin, vimentin and MMP9 was calculated by IPP. ^* P < 0.05 by unpaired t‐test: compared with Ctl.