Fig. 2

High-metastatic CRC cell-derived exosomes regulate HSCs activation in CRLM progression in vivo. (a) Schematic representation of the establishment process of the exosome-educated animal model. (b) Schematic representation of the establishment process of the exosome-educated CRC liver metastases (CRLM) model. c, d. Representative in vivo imaging system (IVIS) results of mice educated with PBS, SW480, LoVo, Caco2, or HCT116 exosomes, respectively. Results of quantified values of bioluminescence imaging signals are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3). e. Representative immunofluorescence showing colocalization between exosomes and LX-2 (α-SMA) in mouse liver after tail vein injection of PKH26-labeled exosomes. Scale bar = 50 μm. f. Representative in vivo imaging system (IVIS) results of mice injected with luciferase-labeled HCT116 cells into the spleen after educated with PBS, SW480, LoVo, Caco2, or HCT116 exosomes, respectively. Results of quantified values of bioluminescence imaging signals are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3). g. Representative image of HE staining for liver metastases in nude mice (yellow arrows: metastatic tumour node; black arrow: normal liver cell). Scale bar = 500 μm. h. Number of metastatic colonies in the livers of nude mice from different groups based on living image and HE staining. (***p < 0.001)