Figure 2

Evaluation of Apelin and APJ expression and involvement of APJ⁺ immune cells in MC38 tumor formation. (A) Cells in the MC38 tumor microenvironment at day 19 of tumor cell inoculation were separated into 3 groups by flow cytometry, i.e., CD45+ CD31−, CD45−CD31+ and CD45−CD31− cells. Apelin expression levels were evaluated by qRT-PCR and normalized against GAPDH. (B) APJ expression levels were evaluated by qRT-PCR and normalized against GAPDH. (C) Schedule of tumor models using WT or APJ-KO bone marrow-transplanted mice (n = 10 for each group). MC38 tumor growth curves were measured until day 19. (D) MC38 tumor weights on day 19 after MC38 cell inoculation were calculated (n = 10 for each group). All experiments were repeated at least three times. The error bars indicate mean ± SD and all data were analyzed by two-sided Student's t-test.