Fig. 2: WFDC3 promotes estrogen-induced inhibition of metastasis in vivo.

a qRT-PCR and western blot analyses verified the overexpression efficiency of WFDC3 in LoVo cells. b Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) bioluminescence imaging of representative mice from each treatment group three weeks after implantation. c Quantification of 2D bioluminescence imaging. d Photographs of metastatic nodules in the liver of mice from each group. Arrows indicate metastatic nodules on liver surface. e Quantification of liver metastasis nodules. f Representative H&E staining images of liver metastatic lesions (magnification at 1×, 40×, and 200×) and IHC staining for E-cadherin and N-cadherin in the liver sections for each group. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 5). g qRT-PCR and western blot analyses confirmed the knockdown efficiency of WFDC3 in HCT116 cells. shWFDC3-3 was used for subsequent in vivo analysis. h Two-dimensional (2D) bioluminescence imaging of representative mice of each group three weeks after implantation. i Quantification of 2D bioluminescence imaging. Statistics were performed using unpaired Student’s t-test, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.