Figure 5.

GPR27 knockdown inhibits HCC growth in vivo. (A–E). SMMC-7721 cells (2 × 10⁶ cells per mouse) were injected into the axilla of 6-week-old male BALB/c nude mice (n=6). When tumor volume reaches at 100 mm³, the control siRNA or GPR27 siRNA (10 μg per tumor) was injected into tumors every other day. The size (D) of the tumors and body weight (C) of mice were measured every 2 or 3 days. Nude mice were sacrificed on day 25 after inoculation, xenograft tumors were harvested. Tumor growth curves (D), photographs of mice (A) and harvested tumors (B), and tumor weight (E) are shown. (F) Representative images of H&E-stained sections of tumors and Ki67 positive cells (F) are shown. Scale bar: 50μm. (G and H) GPR27 knockdown efficiency in vivo was validated by qRT-PCR (G) and Western blot analysis (H). And the protein expression levels of c-Raf, p-c-Raf, ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2, MEK and p-MEK in tumor tissues were determined by Western blot. The p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.