Figure 13.
Experimentally differentiated myeloid-derived lymphatic endothelial cell progenitors (M-LECPs) significantly increase lymphatic metastasis in orthotopic breast cancer models. BALB/c female mice were orthotopically implanted with syngeneic EMT6-Luc tumor cells. One day after implantation, mice were intravenously injected with the following: i) saline; ii) 1 × 106 of unfractionated naïve bone marrow cells; iii) 1 × 106 of naïve CD11b− cells; or iv) 1 × 106 of CD11b− cells differentiated with 10 ng/mL of mouse colony-stimulating factor 1 for 3 days, followed by a 3-day treatment with 3 nmol/L of lipopolysaccharide. A: Tumor growth rate was monitored twice a week until tumors reach 1.8 cm3 in volume. B and C: Ipsilateral lymph nodes (B) and lungs (C) were analyzed for the metastatic burden based on protein-normalized luciferase activity in tissue homogenates. Results are presented as individual values of relative light units (RLU)/mg of protein obtained in tissue homogenate from each mouse. The black bars indicate the mean values per group. n = 5 per group. *P < 0.05 (determined by U-test). WBM, whole bone marrow.