Figure 3 from Mitochondrial Transfer Rescues Respiration to Support De Novo Pyrimidine Biosynthesis and Tumor Progression

Deficiency of mtDNA results in early recruitment of protumor immune cells. A–E, Balb/c mice were injected subcutaneously with parental, 4T1 ρ0, and 4T1 DHODHKO cells (106 per animal), and tumor tissue was assessed for the percentage of macrophages, M1 and M2 macrophages, neutrophils, and eosinophils by FCM using a panel of mAb at the time points shown. The 4T1 ρ0 and 4T1 DHODHKO samples were comprised of 2 to 4 tumors due to their small size, whereas parental samples represented individual tumors from distinct animals. F, The heatmap illustrates the level of transcripts of genes regulating chemotaxis and cell migration in parental, ρ0, ρ0 D3, ρ0 D5, and ρ0 D15 cells after 72 hours of cultivation without uridine. G, Balb/c mice were grafted with cells shown as per above, and their serum was assessed for M-CSF and ICAM-1. The data shown are median values with SEM for groups, each comprising at least 5 samples per group for a specific time point. Statistical significance between groups was assessed using an unpaired t test through GraphPad Prism 8 software. Differences with P value ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant. *, P value of 0.01 to 0.05; **, P value of 0.001 to 0.01; ****, P < 0.0001.