Figures & data
Figure 1 Representative sNF96.2 xenograft whole sciatic nerves show visible additional growth under influence of estrogen. The leftmost nerve is from a mouse treated with estrogen. The middle nerve is from a mouse treated with placebo pellet. The rightmost nerve is from an untreated mouse, where the nerve was injected with PBS as injection control.
Figure 2 Cultured plexiform pNF01.1 Schwann cells are shown, stained with S-100, at x40 magnification. This culture shows characteristic enrichment for SC.
Figure 3 Immunohistochemical staining of plexiform pNF95.11b xenograft with progesterone hormone treatment. (A) H/E stain. (B) hGST immunostain (brown cells are engrafted human SC). (C) Ki-67 immunostain for proliferation. (D) TUNEL stain for apoptosis. Magnification x200.
Figure 4 (A) Effect of hormones on xenograft compared to placebo. The star indicates p ≤ 0.05. Open bar, placebo; gray bar, estrogen; black bar, progesterone. Xenografts of sNF94.3 and cNF97.5 showed statistically significant increase in response to estrogen, whereas the pNF95.11b xenograft showed significant inhibition with both hormones, compared to placebo. Progesterone was associated with an increase in the cNF99.1 xenograft. (B) Xenograft of sNF96.2 showed statistically significant inhibition in response to progesterone, but increase in xenograft size in response to estrogen.
Figure 5 Example of hormone effects on xenografts at a gross morphology level. Photomicrographs are shown for the dermal neurofibroma cNF97.5 xenograft immunostained with hGST antibody to show cells of human origin. Photos (A and D) are placebo sections from left side and right side nerves, respectively; (B and E) are estrogen-associated sections; (C and F) are progesterone-associated sections. An increase in xenograft size can be seen in the presence of estrogen, but not progesterone. The magnification is x200.
Figure 6 Comparison of the effects of hormone on sNF96.2 xenograft in Nf1+/−, scid mice versus Nf1+/+, scid mice. The star * indicates statistically significant results with p ≤ 0.05. Gray bar, Nf1+/−; black bar, Nf1+/+.
