Subcutaneous xenograft model

The in vivo xenograft assay was performed with 4-week-old BALB/c nude mice raised by GemPharmatech (Nanjing, China). Mice were fed in a pathogen-free environment. To construct the subcutaneous xenograft model, a total of 5 × 10⁶ cells were subcutaneously injected into the right flank of nude mice (n = 5 for each group). The size of the tumors was measured every four days and calculated as ½ length × width [2]. After 4 weeks, the mice were sacrificed, and the tumors were harvested. The in vivo experiments were waived by the Animal Committee of Zhongshan Hospital Fudan University.