Figure 5.

nCHI3L1 Ab suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in subcutaneous and orthotopic lung tumor models in vivo. (A) The scheme showing the LLC subcutaneous model in C57BL/6 mice with nCHI3L1 Ab treatments. (B-D) Tumor volume (B), tumor size (C) and tumor weight (D) of LLC allograft in upon IgG (gray) or nCHI3L1 Ab (green) treatment. (E) Elevated CHI3L1 plasma level was observed in the control group, while maintained at the normal range from nCHI3L1 Ab-treated mice. (F) Tumor-infiltrating CTLA-4⁺CD8⁺ cells (Left) or PD-1⁺CD8⁺ cells (Middle) and CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ Tregs (Right). (G) The scheme showing the lung orthotopic model with LLC injected into the left lung. (H) Representative H&E-stained lung sections of primary tumor (P) in the left lung and metastatic tumors (M) in the right lateral lungs in mouse of IgG (Upper) or nCHI3L1 Ab (Lower) treatment group. Scale bar: 10 nm. (I) Overall area of tumor nodules of primary tumors and metastatic tumors. (J-L) The body weight (J), serum biochemical markers (K) and major organs (L) of treated mice examinations revealed no significant adverse effects upon nCHI3L1 Ab treatment. Scale bar: 100 μm. Data represent mean ± SD. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; n.s. non-significance, Student's t-test.