Fig. 4.

IL-11 signaling is required for HCC outgrowth after surgical resection.

(a) Livers of eight-week-old Il-11rαKO (top row) and WT (bottom row) mice were orthotopically injected with Hepa1–6 cells (1·5 × 10 [6]). After 2 weeks, tumours were surgically resected, and mice sacrificed 1 week later. Images are representative pictures of HCC tumours from the two groups, each n = 6. Data are representative of three independent experiments. Scale bar, 1 cm. (b) Ratio of liver weight to body weight (left) and liver tumour burden (right) were calculated in the indicated groups at autopsy. Horizontal lines refer to mean values. n = 10–20. Data were pooled from three independent experiments. *p < 0·05 (unpaired Student's t-test). (c) Representative PCNA (left), AFP (middle), and pTyr-STAT3 (right) IHC analysis of mouse liver samples after surgical tumour resection. Results are representative of three independent experiments. Scale bars, 100 μm. (d) IL-11 and IL-6 levels in serum from WT and Il-11rαKO mice at different time points after surgery determined by ELISA. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM. **p < 0·01 (unpaired Student's t-test). n ≥ 4 for each group.