Figure 11

Phosphonate analog of sulforaphane (P-ITC) treatment inhibits tumor growth and fluorescence emitted from human glioma, cervical, and breast cancer cells grown in zebrafish embryos. The U87, HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cells were labeled with DiL (red fluorescence dye) and injected into the (A). hindbrain ventricle (U87), (B). yolk sac region (HeLa) and (C). in the caudal hematopoietic tissue (MDA-MB-231) of 48 h post-fertilization zebrafish embryos. After 24 h human cancer cell-positive embryos were selected and treated with 3 µM of P-ITC for 48 h. The images were taken under a fluorescence microscope and analyzed under a confocal microscope at the end of the experiment (lower panel of pictures; red–human fluorescence cells, green–blood vessels). The fluorescence emitted by the red tumor masses of each treatment group (n = 10) was measured by ImageJ and calculated in percentage. (D) The mass tumor growing of control and upon P-ITC treatment were measured at the beginning of the experiment (0 h; 24 h after human cells injection) and after 48 h of treatment (48 h). The presented percentage is the average tumor size after 48 h compared to starting 0 h point. Percentage of data are represented as mean ± SD; * p < 0.05 and ** p < 0.01.