Fig. 6

Immunohistochemistry staining of EpCAM, PI3K/mTOR/Akt pathway proteins, Ki-67, CD31 Caspase-3 (active) and γH2AX expressions in s.c. mouse xenografts. a Significantly reduced expression of EpCAM was observed after KD of EpCAM in s.c. xenografts. b-e comparison of EpCAM-KD with EpCAM-scr group: PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling proteins (p-mTOR and p-Akt) were noticeably downregulated, whereas no obvious changes were seen in mTOR and Akt. f Strong expression of Ki-67 was observed in PC-3-EpCAM-scr s.c. xenografts while weak expression of Ki-67 was found inPC-3-EpCAM-KD xenografts. g Markedly reduced CD31 expression was seen in PC-3-EpCAM-KD xenografts compared to PC-3-EpCAM-scr xenografts after DTX treatment. h After treatment with DTX, an increased level of active Caspase-3 expression was seen in PC-3-EpCAM-KD s.c. xenografts compared to PC-3-EpCAM-scr s.c. xenografts. i Following RT, an increased level of γH2AX expression was seen in PC-3-EpCAM-KD s.c. xenografts compared to PC-3-EpCAM-scr s.c. xenografts. Magnification × 400 in all images. DTX, docetaxel; KD, knock-down; RT, radiotherapy; s.c., subcutaneous; scr, scrambled shRNA control