Fig. 4.

Smad3 and Egr-1 were positively correlated with CTSL in vivo. a A549 cells were injected to nude mice, which were treated with paclitaxel and cisplatin. The tumor size was measured using a Vernier caliper. b Body weight was determined using an electronic balance. c At the end of the treatment, the tumors were removed from the nude mice. And tumor lysates were resolved by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and subjected to western blot analysis using anti-CTSL, anti-smad3, anti-Egr-1, anti-CREB antibodies, respectively. GAPDH was used as a loading control. d and e Western blot was performed to detect the expression level of proteins. f and g Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of CTSL, smad3, Egr-1 and CREB in xenografted tumor and human NSCLC tissues. Photographs were obtained using a 40 × objective lens. At least three independent experiments were performed