Fig. 4: The effects of HIC-5 knockdown in CAFs on xenograft tumors derived from ESCC cells mixed with CAFs.
From: HIC-5 in cancer-associated fibroblasts contributes to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression
a Successful HIC-5 knockdown in CAFs by lentivirus-mediated shRNA, confirmed by qRT-PCR and western blotting. b Tumor volume in nude mice derived from KYSE150 cells co-injected with HIC-5 knockdown CAFs or with control CAFs (N = 7 per group). c Tumor weight derived from KYSE150 cells co-injected with HIC-5 knockdown CAFs or with control CAFs (N = 7 per group). d Tumors in nude mice from KYSE150 cells co-injected with HIC-5 knockdown CAFs or with control CAFs (N = 7 per group). The red arrows represent budding tumor tissue. e Representative images of hematoxylin–eosin, HIC-5, and αSMA staining in KYSE150 + CAF-shNC and KYSE150 + CAF-shHIC-5 tumor tissue (scale bar, 100 μm). The red arrows represent CAFs. f Relative mRNA expression levels of migration-related genes in KYSE150 + CAF-shNC and KYSE150 + CAF-shHIC-5 tumor tissue (N = 7 per group). The data represent the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.
