2.12 Subcutaneous tumor xenograft models
All protocols involving mice in this study were conducted in accordance
with the principles and procedures approved by
the Animal Ethics Committee of Northwest A&F University. Animal studies
are reported in compliance with the ARRIVE guidelines (Kilkenny, Browne,
Cuthill, Emerson, & Altman, 2010; McGrath & Lilley, 2015) and with the
recommendations made by the British Journal of Pharmacology .
Male BALB/c nude mice (6 to 8 weeks old) were purchased from
Sino-British Sippr/BK Laboratory Animal Ltd. (Shanghai, China). The mice
were maintained under specific pathogen-free conditions. Five mice were
kept in one breeding cage. PANC-1 cells (1 × 106cells suspended in 0.1 mL sterile PBS/animal) were subcutaneously
injected into the right flanks of mice with a 1 mL sterile disposable
plastic syringe. When the tumors reached an average volume of 100
mm3, the mice were randomly divided into five groups
with five mice in each group. The five groups were treated with solvent
(PBS with 10% methanol and 10% Tween-80), gemcitabine hydrochloride
(80 mg/kg/3d), TA (10 mg/kg/d), TA (20 mg/kg/d), and TA (40 mg/kg/d)
by intraperitoneal injection 15 days, respectively. Tumor volume and
body weight of the tumor-bearing nude mice were monitored once every
three days. The tumor volume was calculated using the following formula:
tumor volume (V) = length × width × width × 0.52. At the end of the
experiment, the tumor-bearing nude mice were sacrificed by cervical
dislocation. The tumors were separated from the surrounding muscles and
dermis, weighed, and photographed.