Objective: To investigate the molecular mechanism of sorafenib against hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Sorafenib efficacy was screened and verified by the hepatocellular carcinoma patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDX) model. Veterinary B-mode ultrasonography and in vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy were used to observe PDX angiogenesis. Immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression of proliferation and angiogenesis-related proteins in PDX tissue. Real-time quantitative PCR technology was used to observe the RUNX3 gene in PDX tissues. SPSS 17.0 statistical software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Four cases of PDX were used to screen the efficacy of sorafenib. PDX1 had a significant response to sorafenib, with an inhibition rate of 68.07%. Compared with the control group, sorafenib had significantly inhibited PDX1 relative tumor volume (5.76±2.14 vs. 11.71±2.87, P<0.05). Cell division index (39.50±7.72 vs. 67.10±9.14, P<0.05) and Ki67 expression (288.6±43.40 vs. 531.70±55.60, P<0.05) were significantly decreased. Veterinary B-mode ultrasonography showed evident blood flow signals in PDX1 tumors. In vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy results showed that sorafenib had significantly reduced the total vessel length (1573.00±236.21 vs. 2675.03±162.00, P<0.05) and area (11 145.33±1931.97 vs. 20 105.37±885.93, P<0.05)) of PDX1 tumors. Immunohistochemical results showed that sorafenib had significantly down-regulated the protein expressions of CD34 (27.55±3.76 vs. 45.47±5.57, P<0.05), VEGF (16.33±2.86 vs. 22.77±3.20, P<0.05) and MVD (38.75±6.01 vs. 55.50±8.61, P<0.05). Real-time PCR results showed that sorafenib had significantly up-regulated RUNX3 gene expression (2.14±0.71 vs. 1.00±0.36, P<0.05). However, there was a negative correlation between the expression of RUNX3 gene and the ratio of VEGF-positive cells in sorafenib group (R2=0.509 7). Conclusion: Sorafenib may inhibit the PDX angiogenesis and the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating the RUNX3-VEGF pathway.
目的： 探讨索拉非尼抗肝癌的分子机制。 方法： 应用肝癌人源肿瘤异体移植（PDX）模型进行索拉非尼药效筛选和验证；采用小动物B型超声和活体激光共聚焦观察PDX 血管生成；采用免疫组化观察PDX组织增殖、血管生成相关蛋白的表达；采用实时定量PCR技术观察PDX组织Runt相关转录因子3（RUNX3）基因表达；采用SPSS 17.0统计软件进行统计学分析。 结果： 用4例PDX进行索拉非尼药效筛选，PDX1对索拉非尼有明显应答，抑制率为68.07%；与对照组相比，索拉非尼明显抑制PDX1相对肿瘤体积（5.76±2.14比11.71±2.87，P<0.05）；细胞分裂指数（39.50±7.72比67.10±9.14，P<0.05）以及Ki67表达明显降低（288.60±43.40比531.70±55.60，P<0.05）；小动物超声可以检测到PDX1肿瘤有明显血流信号；活体激光共聚焦结果显示索拉非尼能明显减低PDX1肿瘤的总血管长度（1 573.00±236.21比2 675.03±162.00， P<0.05）和面积（11 145.33±1 931.97比20 105.37±885.93，P<0.05）；免疫组织化学结果显示索拉非尼显著下调CD34（27.55±3.76比45.47±5.57，P<0.05）和血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）（16.33±2.86比22.77±3.20，P<0.05）蛋白表达以及减少微血管密度（38.75±6.01比55.50±8.61，P<0.05）；Real-time PCR结果显示索拉非尼明显上调RUNX3基因表达（2.14±0.71比1.00±0.36，P<0.05），索拉非尼组RUNX3基因表达量与VEGF阳性细胞比率呈负相关（R2=0.5097）。 结论： 索拉非尼可能通过调控RUNX3-VEGF通路抑制肝癌PDX血管生成进而抑制肝癌生长。.