Fig. 2

HuR deficiency ameliorates the malignant progression of CRPC in vivo. A The tumour xenograft mouse model was established by inoculating nude mice with d sgControl or HuR KO clones of PC3 cells. Tumour growth curves showing the average volume of tumours in each group (n = 5). B After 21 days, the mice were sacrificed, and the size (left panel) and weight (right) of the tumour xenografts were measured (n = 5). C Representative immunostaining (scale bar: 50 μm) of Ki67 in sgControl and HuR KO tumour xenografts. The dashed square outlines the higher magnification image. The right panel shows the percentages of Ki67-positive areas (brown) in each group of tumour xenografts. D Representative micro-CT scan (left) and H&E staining (right) showing increased bone trabeculae and decreased destruction of bone trabeculae in nude mouse tibias inoculated with HuR KO1 PC3 cells compared to those inoculated with sgControl cells. The arrowheads denote bone trabecula. The dashed square outlines the higher magnification image of the bone trabecula (scale bar: 100 μm). E Quantitation of the trabecular number (Tb.N), thickness (Tb.Th), separation (Tb.Sp), and percent trabecular area (BV/TV), as well as the structural model index (SMI) in nude mouse tibias inoculated with sgControl or HuR KO1 cells (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01). F In vivo images of tumours showing fewer tumour xenografts and metastatic lesions in nude mice that were orthotopically inoculated with HuR KO1 cells compared to those inoculated with sgControl cells (n = 3). The right panel shows the quantitative fluorescence intensity of tumour lesions in each type of nude mouse. p values are shown for each comparison (^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01)