Fig. 5From: Hypoxia-induced cancer stemness acquisition is associated with CXCR4 activation by its aberrant promoter demethylationAcquisition of stemness and CXCR4 expression in vivo using a mouse tumor model. a Tumor-forming potential of cells cultured under the normoxic or hypoxic conditions was compared following an injection into the BALB/c nude mice. The number of mice that developed tumors was higher in the hypoxic cell group compared with the normoxic control group. In BEAS-2B or H226 cells injected mice, tumor size was significantly higher in the hypoxic cell groups compared with the normoxic groups (P < 0.01). A549 injected mice showed a tendency to increase although not significant. Data are presented as mean ± SE (*P < 0.01). b CXCR4 immunohistochemistry in mouse tumors injected with hypoxic cell groups showed strong CXCR4 expression compared with the normoxic controls (scale bar = 500 μm). Data are presented as mean ± SE (*P < 0.05)Back to article page