Fig. 1

Thal reduces tumor growth, inhibits angiogenesis, and favorably changes the TME. a Schematic diagram depicting generation of 4 T1 (n = 6) and CT26 (n = 6) tumor homograft models and treatment schedule. b Tumor growth curves for 4 T1 and CT26 models after treatment with different doses of Thal. c Immunostaining for the endothelial cell marker CD31 (Green) and the vessel maturation marker α-SMA (Red) in healthy skin and in tumors (Left), and quantification of percentage of pericyte coverage and proportion of vessels with lumen open (Right). Yellow and white arrows denote mature and immature vessel, respectively. Bars: 50 μm. d Confocal micrographs of immunostaining for CD31 (Green) of frozen sections of control and Thal-treated tumors (Left), and quantificationof MVD (Right). Bars: 100 μm. e Immunostaining for HIF-1α in tumor tissues from 4 T1 and CT26 models (Left) and quantification of percentage of HIF-1α⁺ cells (Right). Bars: 50 μm. f H&E-stained images of tumor sections from 4 T1 and CT26 models and comparison of necrotic areas (black dotted line) between Thal and control; quantification of the necrotic area is indicated as a percentage per total sectional area. Bars: 5 mm. g Quantification of vascular permeability in tumors injected with vehicle, Thal 100 mg/kg/day or Thal 200 mg/kg/day. Quantitative data are represented as mean ± SD. All p values were calculated by one-way ANOVA analysis followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparison test. *p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001