Figure 3.

PIP expression delays 4T1 tumor onset and growth in immunocompetent mice. Female WT BALB/c mice were injected orthotopically into the 4^th mammary fat pad with 1 × 10⁴ 4T1-EV (empty vector control) or 4T1-PIP (PIP expressing) cells in 100 μl PBS and the onset of palpable tumor (latency) was determined (A). Thereafter, the growth curves were determined by measuring the tumor diameter daily with digital calipers (B). At sacrifice, the tumors were excised and weighed to determine the tumor size (C) and representative photo images of excised tumors were obtained (D). Results are representative of three different experiments. Results are expressed as mean ± SEM of n = 3–5 mice/group. *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001; T-test and two-way ANOVA were conducted.