Differentiated Epithelial- and Mesenchymal-Like Phenotypes in Subcutaneous Mouse Xenografts Using Diffusion Weighted-Magnetic Resonance Imaging

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Ya-Wen Chen³  Huay-Ben Pan²  Hui-Hwa Tseng¹  Hsiao-Chien Chu³  Yu-Ting Hung²  Yi-Chen Yen³ 

[1] School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan; E-Mail:;Department of Radiology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan; E-Mails:;National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 350, Taiwan; E-Mails:

关键词: diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging;    epithelial;    mesenchymal;    apparent diffusion coefficient;    mouse xenografts;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms141121943

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is important for tumor metastasis. Detection of EMT protein expression and observation of morphological changes are commonly used to identify EMT. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and measuring apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values are noninvasive techniques for characterizing tumor microenvironments. We investigated the difference in ADC values between epithelial- and mesenchymal-like subcutaneous mouse xenografted tumors using DW-MRI. Epithelial-like MM189 PB-Klf4 and BL322 PB-Klf4 cells were generated from tumor suppressive Kruppel-like factor 4 (Klf4)-expressing mesenchymal-like MM189 and BL322 cells. The ADC values of xenografted tumors from epithelial-like MM189 PB-Klf4 and BL322 PB-Klf4 were significantly lower than those from their mesenchymal-like counterparts (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Our results suggested that DW-MRI is a potential tool for observing mesenchymal- or epithelial-like characteristics of subcutaneous xenografted tumors.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland