Figure 3

Anti-tumor effect of GMME1-expressing CCL2^-/-MSC. A. Subcutaneous injection of immuncompetent C57Bl/6 mice (n = 5/group) with 10⁶ EG7 cells alone or in combination with 2 × 10⁶ MSC-GFP leads to the development of large tumors in all mice. The admixture of GMME1-expressing MSC with EG7 tumor cells leads to a significant delay in EG7 growth with 60% of mice that remained tumor-free for over a month (*P < 0.05). B. To assess the growth of EG7 cells in mice implanted with a neo-organoid expressing GFP vs the GMME1 fusokine, immunocompetent C57Bl/6 mice (n = 5/group) were injected on one flank with contigen containing 2 × 10⁶ MSC engineered to express GFP or GMME1 followed by 10⁶ EG7 cells on the opposite flank. Tumor volume and appearance was assessed every 48 hrs. A significant delay in tumor growth was noticed (*P < 0.05). C. Three weeks post-contigen implantation, mice were bled and the sera tested using the CCL2 ELISA kit for GMME1. All mice implanted with MSC expressing the fusokine GMME1 showed detectable levels as opposed to control MSC-GFP or mice implanted with EG7 cells only (*P < 0.05).