Fig. 4. P2X7 antagonist A740003 reduces in vivo melanoma cell dissemination and metastasis formation.
A Photons emission measured every 6 days in mice in which Sk-Mel-28 cells expressing the luciferase Luc2 were injected into the tail vein and treated with a placebo (PBS, 0.005% DMSO) or A740003 (50 μg/kg) every 3 days, starting from the day of inoculum of tumor cells. Luminescence emission is presented as total flux (p/s). Data are shown as the mean ± SEM, N = 8 per condition. *p < 0.05, Student’s t-test. B Representative image of Luc2 luminescence emission in placebo and A740003 treated mice at day 33. C B16-F10 cells show an increase in [Ca2+]I upon P2X7R stimulation with Bz-ATP that is reversed by treatment with 20 µM A740003. D–F B16-F10 cells were injected into the tail vein of C57/bl6 mice, which were i.p. administered with A740003 (50 μg/kg) or placebo (PBS, 0.005% DMSO) every 3 days starting from the day of inoculum of cancer cells. N = 8 per condition. D Percentage of mice treated with placebo or A740003 that developed at list one metastasis. *p = 0.0114, Fisher Exact’s Test. E Number of metastasis growth in the lungs of placebo or A740003 treated mice. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, Student’s t-test. F Representative images of lungs of mice treated with placebo or A740003.