title: Oxysophoridine suppresses the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma in mice: in vivo and cDNA microarray studies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the in vivo effects of oxysophoridine on hepatocellular carcinoma in mice and to study the related mechanisms.
  
  
  METHODS
  C57BL mice were inoculated with mouse hepatoma H22 cells subcutaneously, then divided into 5 groups (14 per group), and treated with oxysophoridine (50, 100, or 150 mg/kg) or cisplatin (4 mg/kg) for 10 days. Inhibitory rate of tumor, body weight gain, and influence indices on internal organs (liver, spleen and thymus) were evaluated. The differentially expressed genes between the oxysophoridine-treated group, and the control group were analyzed using cDNA microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) experiments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the tumor weight of the control group (2.75±0.66 g), oxysophoridine significantly suppressed hepatocellular carcinoma growth in mice (P <0.01), with 0.82±0.36 g, 0.57±0.22 g, and 1.22±0.67 g for the tumor weight in the low, moderate, and high dose treatment group, respectively. The moderate dose led to the highest inhibitory rate, 79.3%. Observation of body weight gain and influence on three organs showed that compared with cisplatin, oxysophoridine produced fewer side effects in vivo. cDNA microarray and qRT-PCR showed that the most significant differentially expressed genes in the tumor samples of oxysophoridine-treated mice were mostly involved in regulating apoptosis, with the Tnfrsf11b (osteoprotegerin) gene being the most significantly affected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oxysophoridine was a promising compound for developing drugs against hepatocellular carcinoma, and its anti-hepatoma effect was probably related to osteoprotegerin activation.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Yun-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Pei-Xun
authors.initials: PX
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000187:drug effects; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D047368:Tumor Burden / Q000187:drug effects; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; C406983:oxysophoridine