Bcl-2 Overexpression Improves Survival and Efficacy of Neural Stem Cell-Mediated Enzyme Prodrug Therapy

Figure 4

Therapeutic advantage of Bcl-2 expression in NSCs. (a) Representative brain sections showing the relative sizes of U251.eGFP.ffluc tumor 3 weeks after coimplantation with either parental or transduced/transfected NSC.CDs. All groups received 500 mg/kg of the prodrug 5-FC. Brain slices with the maximal tumor surface area are shown stained with H&E (left panel) and DAPI (center panel). In the fluorescent DAPI images, eGFP + tumor cells are visible (green). Arrows indicate tumor location. Average maximum tumor diameter is provided in white text. (b) Representative bioluminescent images of ffluc-expressing U251 glioma cells at select time points after coimplantation with either parental or transduced/transfected NSC.CDs. (c) Quantification of bioluminescent tumor flux in all animals (mean + individual datapoints shown). (d) Bioluminescent imaging value table showing MC.Bcl-2 and Ad.Bcl-2 treatment groups achieved a statistically significant reduction in tumor bioluminescent flux signal.

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