Fig. 6: Depletion of HMGA1 enhances sensitivity to paclitaxel in a xenograft mouse model.

A Flow chart of the experimental BC mouse model for the treatment with paclitaxel. Mice were inoculated with MDA-MB-231/TetR shCTRL or shHMGA1 inducible clones and, when the tumour masses reached 50–100 mm3 of tumour volume, they were randomly grouped and then treated with paclitaxel. B Evaluation of tumour onset. The graph shows the different timing of tumour onset (tumour mass of 50–100 mm3) in MDA-MB-231 shCTRL and MDA-MB-231 shHMGA1 injected cells (n = 14 tumours). C Graph representing the percentage of volume masses at the endpoint of the treatment, comparing shCTRL (n = 4) vs. shCTRL + paclitaxel (n = 4), shHMGA1 (n = 5) vs. shHMGA1 + paclitaxel (n = 3), and shCTRL + paclitaxel vs. shHMGA1 + paclitaxel. Tumour data have been normalized on the first day of the treatment. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. D Scheme illustrating the regulation of HMGA1 on p27 and stathmin and its effect on cancer cell migration and paclitaxel sensitivity (blue and pink dots represent free and polymerized tubulin.