Constitutively Active AKT in Murine Cancer

Hinokitiol (purity: 99%), rhodamine 123 (Rho-123), 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA). Dr. Chiau-Yuang Tsai (Department of Molecular Immunology, Osaka University, Japan) provided the constitutively active AKT plasmid 18 (link). The B16F10 (mouse melanoma) 18 (link) and CT26 (mouse colon cancer) 19 (link) cells were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) containing 1% antibiotics (100 units/mL penicillin and 100 μg/mL streptomycin), 2mM l-glutamine and 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The C57BL/6 (B16F10 mouse tumor model) and BALB/c (CT26 mouse tumor model) female mice were purchased from the National Laboratory Animal Center of Taiwan. The experimental protocol adhered to the rules of the Animal Protection Act of Taiwan and was approved by the Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee of the National Sun Yat-sen University.