Inhibition of connective tissue growth factor overexpression decreases growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo

摘要

Background We have previously found that connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is highly expressed in a rat model of liver cancer.Here,we examined expression of CTGFin human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and its effect on cell growth.Methods Real-time PCR was used to observe expression of CTGF in human HCC cell lines HepG2,SMMC-7721,MHCC-97H and LO2.siRNA for the CTGFgene was designed,synthesized and cloned into a Plk0.1-GFP-SP6 vector to construct a lentivirus-mediated shRNA/CTGF.CTGF mRNA and protein expression in HepG2 cells treated by CTGF-specific shRNA was evaluated by real-time PCR and Western blotting.3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was utilized to evaluate the growth effect,and a colony formation assay was used for observing clonogenic growth.In vivo,tumor cell proliferation was evaluated in a nude mouse model of xenotransplantation.Statistical significance was determined by t test for comparison between two groups,or analysis of variance (ANOVA) for multiple groups.Results Immunohistochemical staining of CTGF was seen in 35 of 40 HCC samples (87.5％).CTGF was overexpressed 5-fold in 20 HCC tissues,compared with surrounding non-tumor liver tissue.CTGF mRNA level was 5-8-fold higher in HepG2,SMMC-7721 and MHCC-97H than in LO2 cells.This indicated that the inhibition rate of cell growth was 43％ after knockdown of CTGF expression (P ＜0.05).Soft agar colony formation assay showed that siRNA mediated knockdown of CTGF inhibited colony formation in soft agar of HepG2 cells (P ＜0.05).The volume of tumors from CTGF-shRNA-expressing cells only accounted for 35％ of the tumors from the scrambled control-infected HepG2 cells (P ＜0.05).Conclusions CTGF was overexpressed in human HCC cells and downregulation of CTGF inhibited HCC growth in vitro and in vivo.Knockdown of CTGF may be a potential therapeutic strategy for treatment of HCC.