Fig. 9
siRNA to XIAP increases apoptosis in vivo. siRNA to XIAP or a scrambled nucleotide control siRNA or blank plasmid were injected into human breast cancer xenografts in nude mice as described in the Materials and methods section, and sections were obtained for analysis of XIAP expression and apoptosis. Representative adjacent sections are shown following (a) immunohistochemistry for XIAP expression, (b) TUNEL assay to detect apoptotic cells in situ. MCF-7 cells were grown on coverslips and transfected with XIAP siRNA or control siRNA or blank plasmid. Cells were then analyzed for apoptosis with the TUNEL assay. Dark-blue staining of nuclei indicates apoptosis. Arrows indicate representative TUNEL-positive cells. (c) Quantitative presentation of the experiments in panel B. The percentages of TUNEL positive cells were scored for MCF-7 cells transfected with XIAP siRNA, control siRNA or blank plasmid.