The study focus on the characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying the antitumor activity induced by in vivo treatment with DNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles (DNA–LNPs).
The transcriptomic profiles of livers from vehicle- and DNA–LNP–treated mice were compared using the nCounter® PanCancer Mouse IO 360 Panel (NanoString). RNA was isolated from liver samples collected from four independent mice per treatment group. Hepatocellular carcinoma mice were treated with either vehicle or 1ug of DNA-LNP. Livers were harvested, and total RNA was extracted using the RNeasy Mini kit (Qiagen). Samples were prepared according to the manufacturer's protocols for the nCounter PanCancer Mouse IO 360 Panel  (Nanostring). Cartridges were run on the nCounter Sprint Profiler. Gene expression levels were normalized against the housekeeping genes and data analysis was conducted using the nSolver software.