Fig. 8

Tumor growth inhibition and histological examination of tumor sections in nude mice bearing PLC tumors following treatment with different formulations. a Images of a xenograft tumor model in vivo following treatment with PBS, free gefitinib, free gefitinib and shAtg-5, gefitinib NPs, and gefitinib/shAtg-5 NPs for 3 weeks. b Tumor volume curves after the animals were treated by different preparations. The results were expressed as mean ± SD (n = 5). c Histological examination of tumor sections (20 days after the first treatment). Nuclei were stained blue, while the extracellular matrix and cytoplasm were stained red via H&E staining. For the immunohistochemistry staining, blue stains showed the nuclei, and brown stains in the cytoplasm indicated protein expression in tumor cells. Scale bar for H&E staining: 40 μm; scale bar for immunohistochemistry staining: 20 μm