Molecular Mechanism of Local Drug Delivery with Paclitaxel-Eluting Membranes in Biliary and Pancreatic Cancer: New Application for an Old Drug

Figure 3

Paclitaxel-eluting membrane (PEM) implantation attenuates angiogenesis in xenografted tumors. (a) Representative photographs of the gross morphology of SCK tumors from nude mice implanted with the PEM or control (+Plu) membrane for 7 days. , tumor; arrow, PEM; arrowhead, control (+Plu) membrane (upper). Western blot of CD31 expression in tumor lysates from indicated tumors implanted with the PEM or control. (b) Representative immunofluorescence analysis for CD31 in SCK tumors implanted with the PEM or control. Graph shows relative fluorescence intensity of CD31 (right). (c) PEM implantation decreased VEGF expression in tumor lysates from indicated tumors (upper). VEGFR2 expression was evaluated in SCK tumor tissue after implantation with 0, 5, and 10% paclitaxel in a PEM by immunoblotting (lower). (d) Representative immunofluorescence analysis for VEGFR2 in tissue from SCK tumors implanted with the PEM or control and relative fluorescence intensity of VEGFR2 (right). ((b), (d)) Positive protein staining is in green and nuclei are stained blue with DAPI. Original magnification, ×40. Scale bar: 50 μm. Values are means ± standard deviation (SD). fields per group. . (e) Effects of PEM implantation on the expression of MMP-2, CD44, SPARC, and vimentin proteins in indicated tumors. Proteins were detected by Western blotting using the indicated antibodies.

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