Figure 1.

Inhibitory effect of apoptin on SMMC-7721 cells in vitro and in vivo. (A) Western blotting analysis of apoptin protein expression at different time points and different virus titers. 100 MOI of Ad-apoptin expresses apoptin protein more effectively than 10 MOI, and with the increase of time, the expression level also increases; the Ad-MOCK and control group do not express apoptin. (B) SMMC-7721 cells were infected with Ad-apoptin or Ad-mock at 100 MOI, then stained with 0.4% crystal violet at 12, 24, and 48 h. Ad-apoptin exerts inhibitory effects on SMMC-7721 cells. (C) Viability of SMMC-7721 cells was determined using MTS assays, after infection with Ad-apoptin or Ad-MOCK at two different doses (10 and 100 MOI) for 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h. The inhibitory effect of Ad-apoptin had a significantly higher than other groups on liver cancer cells. All measurements were performed in triplicates. (D,E) Xenograft models were established via subcutaneous injection of SMMC-7721 cells (5 × 10⁶/100 μL) into the right hind limb of the mice (n = 10 per group). Length and width of xenograft tumors measured weekly, for 6 weeks, using vernier caliper. The tumor growth rate of Ad-apoptin group was significantly lower than that of other groups. (F) Average tumor inhibition was calculated using the formula: (1 - treatment group tumor weight/control tumor weight) × 100%. In the last week, the average tumor inhibition of the Ad-apoptin group was about 62.32%. (G) After successfully establishing xenograft models in nude mice, the survival of mice was recorded every day for 6 weeks. The survival rate of the Ad-apoptin group was also the highest, reaching 70.00%. Data are presented as means ± SD (^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001) compared with Ad-mock or controls.