Inhibitory effect of iAPA- DC /CTL on HepG2 xenograft in nude mice

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of inhibition of antigen presentation attenuators ( iAPA) - based dendritic cells ( DC) and cytotoxic T lymphocytes ( CTL) ( iAPA- DC/CTL) on HepG2 xenograft in nude mice. Methods Human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells were subcutaneously implanted into nude mice on nude mice to establish a HepG2 xenograft model transplanted tumor model of human HCC. Twelve nude mice were randomly and equally divided into two groups: normal saline control group ( C group) and iAPA- DC /CTL group ( DC group) . After four times of treatment with iAPA- DC /CTL ( once a week) , all mice were sacrificed. Tumor growth was evaluated by measuring the long and short diameters and delineating the tumor growth curve. The tumors were weighed, and the tumor inhibition rate was calculated. In addition, histopathological examination was performed. Comparison of means between the two groups was made by independent- samples t test. Results The HepG2 xenograft model was successfully established in 92. 31% of all mice. The tumor volume was 697. 69 ± 143. 99 mm3 in C group and 485. 64 ± 188. 75 mm3 in DC group; the tumor growth was significantly slower in DC group than in C group ( t = 2. 28, P < 0. 05) . The tumor weight was 0. 32 ± 0. 07 g in C group and 0. 22 ± 0. 08 g in DC group; DC group had a significantly lower tumor weight than C group ( t = 2. 31, P < 0. 05) , and the tumor inhibition rate was 30. 39%. After immunohistochemical staining, T lymphocyte count was 0 cell /high- power field ( HPF) in C group and 39. 74 ± 5. 11 cells /HPF in DC group; the number of T lymphocytes in DC group was significantly higher than that in C group ( t = 19. 05, P < 0. 05) . Conclusion iAPA- DC /CTL can effectively inhibit the growth of subcutaneous HepG2 xenograft in nude mice.