LLL12 suppressed tumor growth.

<p>LLL12 suppressed tumor growth in (<b>A</b>) mouse xenografts with MDA-MB-231 breast cancer stem-like cells and (<b>B</b>) mammary fat pad with SUM159 breast cancer stem-like cells (ALDH⁺ cells). Reduction of tumor volume (<b>Aa</b> and <b>Ba</b>) and tumor weight (<b>Ab</b> and <b>Bb</b>) in all LLL12-treated mice compared to vehicle group (*<i>P</i><0.05). One representative sample from tumor tissues generated from ALDH⁺ MDA-MB-231 cancer stem-like showing STAT3 phosphorylation were also inhibited by LLL12 treatment (<b>Ac</b> and <b>Bc</b>). (<b>C</b>) Immunohistochemistry staining of tumor xenografts was performed using Ki-67 and cleaved caspase-3 antibodies. The staining was visualized and photographed on a BX51 fluorescence microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) at x200 magnification (<b>Ca</b>). Positively stained cells in each photo were counted. LLL12 decreased the number of Ki-67 positive tumor cells (<b>Cb</b>) and increased the numbers of cleaved caspase-3 positive tumor cells (<b>Cc</b>).