Fig. 4

Sulforaphane promoted tumor growth only in the presence of p53. a Animal experimental scheme; the two types of HCT116 cells were subcutaneously injected on day 0 and grown for 7 days. Xenografted tumor-bearing mice were intraperitoneally administered with vehicle (negative control; Control), low-dose sulforaphane (SFN_Low), medium-dose sulforaphane (SFN_Med), or high-dose sulforaphane (SFN_High) on days 7 and 9. The body weight and tumor volume of each mouse were monitored every other day. b No significant effect of sulforaphane on the body weight of BALB/c nude mice bearing HCT116 cell xenografts was observed. Values represent mean ± standard deviation (SD) (n = 5 or 6). c The xenografts formed in the mice gradually grew in size but were not significantly different from those formed in control (no treatment) mice. d, e The volumes of p53-WT (d) or p53-KO (e) xenografts were increased with sulforaphane treatment. WT xenografts were significantly increased in size by treatment with a low dose of sulforaphane, while KO xenografts were not affected by sulforaphane treatment. Values represent mean ± SD (n = 5 or 6). Asterisk indicates significant differences among the conditions. f, g The picture of p53-WT (f) or p53-KO (g) xenograft tumors dissected from the mice after sacrifice