Fig. 8.

CTB inhibited tumor growth and induced cell apoptosis in vivo. BALB/c athymic nude mice inoculated with SMMC-7721 cells were treated with CTB (2.5, 5, 10 mg kg^− 1), Cis-Pt (10 mg kg^− 1) and vehicle solvent (0.9% saline solution) for 14 days. a The change of body weight in the CTB, Pifithrin-μ, CTB + Pifithrin-μ, Cis-Pt and vehicle-treated group (n = 6). b The growth curve of tumors, whose volumes were measured every 3 days in the CTB, Pifithrin-μ, CTB + Pifithrin-μ, Cis-Pt and vehicle-treated group (n = 6). c Tumor weights comparison, obtained on the final day of sacrifice in mice (n = 6). d Tunel staining of tumor tissue fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde (original magnification, 40×). Scale bar:100 μm. e Western blot analysis of cleaved caspase-3/9, Bax, Bcl-2 and Cyt C levels in tumor tissues. The data are represented as the mean ± SD (n = 6). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 compared with model group