Nude mouse intracranial model development

Approximately 4-week-old BALB/cA nude mice were purchased from the Animal Center at the Cancer Institute at the Chinese Academy of Medical Science (Beijing, China) and used to establish an intracranial glioma model. A total of 4 × 10⁵ U87 cells transfected with negative control or U87-vIII cells were implanted stereotactically into each mouse using cranial guide screws [³³]. FK228 (1 μg/g) in 1% DMSO in PBS was intraperitoneally injected into each mouse in the treatment group every 3 days. The control group received an equal amount of 1% DMSO in PBS through intraperitoneal injection as previously reported [³⁴]. Tumour size was monitored using the IVIS Lumina imaging system (Xenogen, USA) every 7 days. After sacrifice, the brains were carefully removed and immersed in 10% formalin for 24 h. Then, haematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining were performed.