Fig. 5

FAK down-regulation enhanced rapamycin efficacy in vivo. Five million REH-empty vector or REH-FAK shRNA cells were injected into NOD/SCID mice on day 0. The mice were treated daily with 1.5 mg/kg rapamycin or DMSO for 7 days beginning on day 10. The survivors were monitored daily, and leukemia progression was assayed on days 10, 17, 24, and 31. a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that the combination of rapamycin and FAK down-regulation prolonged survival compared with rapamycin treatment alone. b The white blood cells in the peripheral blood were counted on days 0, 10, 17, 24, and 31. The results showed that the combination of rapamycin and FAK down-regulation reduced the leukemia burden compared with rapamycin treatment alone. *p < 0.05, the combination group vs. the rapamycin-only group. c Leukemic mice developed splenomegaly on day 25, but the combination of rapamycin and FAK down-regulation reduced the size of the spleens compared with rapamycin treatment alone