SOX11 silencing inhibits the growth of MCL tumors in SCID mice. (A) Z138 stably transduced with shSOX11.1, shSOX11.3, and shControl (107cells/mouse) were subcutaneously inoculated into the right flank of CB17-SCID mice. Tumor growth was measured using a caliper at the indicated days PI. Bar plot represents the mean ± SD. (B) Tumor volume (mm3) of Z138shSOX11.1 (n = 8), Z138shSOX11.3 (n = 6), and Z138shControl (n = 7) cells at day 23 PI into the lower dorsum of CB17-SCID mice. (C) Macroscopic appearance (upper panel) and consecutive histological sections from representative shSOX11 and shControl tumors stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and specific antibodies anti-human SOX11, PAX5, and BLIMP1 (×40). (D) Histologic sections of representative shSOX11 and shControl tumors (upper panels, H&E ×4 and ×10). shSOX11 tumors show extensive necrotic areas that are minimal in shControl tumors. Necrotic areas are highlighted by the immunostaining for activated caspase-3 (×4). Lower panel: Density (percentage of necrotic areas vs total area of the histologic section) of necrotic areas in control and SOX11-silenced tumors delineated by the presence of activated caspase-3–positive areas. Bar plot represents the mean percentage ± SD. P values are shown. The significance of difference was determined by independent-samples t test.
