Fig. 6

Domperidone suppresses ESCC tumor growth in PDX model

The tumor tissues obtained from patients were subcutaneously injected into SCID mice, and then mice were given with domperidone (5 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg) or vehicle six times per week. (A, E) The mice were sacrificed and tumors mass were isolated from mice. (C, D, G, H) Tumor volume was monitored throughout the study period. Data are showed as mean ± S.D. **, P < 0.01 indicates a significant decrease between tumors from domperidone treatment and vehicle group. (B, F) Upon sacrifice of the mice, the weight of dissected tumor tissue was recorded. Data are showed as mean ± SD. *, P < 0.05, **, P < 0.01, ***, P < 0.001. (I) The expression of p-ERK and p-SMAD3 were examined in PDX model tumor tissue using IHC analysis (400×) (left panel). Quantification analysis of IHC staining results (Right panel). The positive rate was measured by Image J pro and represented as mean ± S.D. *, P < 0.05, **, P < 0.01. (J) Graphical conclusion for the findings of this work: domperidone bindings with MEK1/2 and CDK4, which disturbs their kinase activity in turn leads to suppress MEK/ERK and CDK4/SMAD3 pathway, and consequently inhibits ESCC proliferation.