Flap endonuclease-1 promotes pancreatic cancer progression via AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Figure 5 Flap endonuclease-1 enhances tumorigenic potential of pancreatic cancer cells in vivo. A: Representative in vivo bioluminescence imaging of nude mice bearing subcutaneous xenograft tumors derived from PATU8988T cells with modified FEN1 expression (shFEN1 or shNC); B and C: Representative macroscopic images and quantitative weight analysis of subcutaneous xenograft tumors harvested from nude mice (n = 5 per group) subcutaneously injected with 1 × 10⁷ PATU8988T cells (shFEN1 or shNC) in the axilla; D: Growth kinetics of subcutaneous xenograft tumors measured at indicated time points over the experimental period; E: Immunohistochemical analysis of Ki-67 expression in xenograft tumor sections, indicating proliferation index. Scale bar = 20 μm; F: Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining of xenograft tumor sections showing histological features. Scale bar = 50 μm (left panels) or 20 μm (right panels). ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001.