Mice were permitted 1 week to acclimate to their environment before manipulation. All surgical procedures were completed in accordance with the guidelines on the care and use of laboratory animals for research purposes by the West China Hospital Cancer Center’s Animal Care and Use Committee. C57BL/6 mice were inoculated with 1 × 105 B16-F10 melanoma cells s.c. in the right flank. Primary tumors usually

became palpable on day 7–8 and with an average diameter of 3 mm. On day 9, the tumor-bearing mice were randomly assigned into 3 groups and each group contained 8 mice. Each mouse in Ad-PEDF group received 5 × 108 IU Ad-PEDF virus in 0.1 Pexidartinib manufacturer ml via i.v. injection on day 9, 12, 15, and 18 with a total of 4 times. The mice

in the control groups received 5 × 108 IU Ad-Null or normal saline (NS), serving as vector and injection control, respectively. The details of the treatment were described previously [14]. Tumor dimensions were measured with calipers on day 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 with a total of 6 times. The tumor volumes were calculated according to the following this website formula: length × width2 × 0.52. Two mice from each group were bled to collect serum on day 22, which was used to examine the PEDF concentration in serum. Surviving mice in Ad-PEDF groups were monitored up to 42 days; all other mice become moribund by day 24 and were sacrificed. Subcutaneous tumors from sacrificed mice were removed and fixed in 4% formaldehyde solution for immunochemistry staining and histological analysis. Detection of PEDF concentration in serum Concentrations of PEDF in serum were determined using a commercial PEDF ELISA kit (ADL, Biotech. Dev. Co., USA) following the manufacturer’s

instructions. Briefly, 50 μl serum and 50 μl PEDF monoclonal antibody see more were added to every well of the pre-coated ELISA plate and the plate was incubated at 37°C for 1 hour. After wash, 80 μl of streptavidin-HRP was added and incubated at 37°C for 30 minutes. After wash, 50 μl substrate A and B was added, respectively, and incubated for 10 minutes at 37°C, followed by 50 μl stop solution. The absorbance was read immediately at 450 nm in a spectrophotometer [15]. There were 2 serum samples in each group, and each sample were applied to 3 replicated wells. Luciferase assay for virus distribution Virus distribution was analyzed using the luciferase reporting system, as reported previously [16]. C57BL/6 mice were inoculated with 1 × 105 B16-F10 melanoma cells s.c. in the right flank. On day 9, the tumor-bearing mice were randomly assigned into 2 groups and each group contained 3 mice. Experimental group received 5 × 1010 IU Ad-luciferase and control group received 5 × 1010 IU Ad-null virus in 0.1 ml via i.v. injection. Seven days later, the mice were sacrificed. Heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney and tumor from each mouse were collected and individually stored in liquid nitrogen.