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Effects of shRNA-Mediated SOX9 Inhibition on Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis in Human HCC Cell Line Hep3B Mediated by Ultrasound-Targeted Microbubble Destruction (UTMD)

Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics volume 73, pages 553–558 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive tumors in humans. The survival rate of patients is still very poor as current therapies offer limited treatment efficacy. Therefore, it is necessary to explore novel and more effective strategies to treat HCC. Recently, Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) has been shown to be a better alternative to viral vectors in delivering plasmid DNA into cells. In this study, we thus first determined the effect of combining UTMD with effectene on the transfection efficiency in human Hep3B cells. Transfection rate of the [effectene + shRNA-SOX9 + UTMD] group was the highest among the five groups, and were significantly higher than that of the [effectene + shRNA-SOX9] or [shRNA-SOX9 + UTMD] groups, while there was no significant difference between [shRNA-SOX9 alone] and [shRNA-SOX9 + UTMD] groups. Expression of SOX9 mRNA and protein was the lowest in effectene + shRNA-SOX9 + UTMD group. Moreover, transfection of shRNA-SOX9 with UTMD and effectene in combination could markedly inhibit the proliferation and induced cell apoptosis of Hep3B cells. These results suggest that the efficiency of gene delivery is remarkably increased when UTMD is combined with other transfection strategies, such as effectene. In conclusion, our research demonstrates that combining conventional transfection methods with UTMD achieves better transfection efficiency and that this can provide an improved gene delivery system for gene therapy.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Ultrasound, Linyi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Linyi, 276003, People’s Republic of China

    Yan Xue

  2. Department of Medical Imaging, Linyi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Linyi, 276003, People’s Republic of China

    Guilun Yang, Xiaodong Li & Guijin Du

  3. Department of Healthcare, Shandong University Affiliated Jinan Central Hospital, Jinan, 250013, People’s Republic of China

    Changmei Wang

Authors
  1. Yan Xue
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  2. Guilun Yang
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  3. Changmei Wang
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  4. Xiaodong Li
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  5. Guijin Du
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Correspondence to Guilun Yang.

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Xue, Y., Yang, G., Wang, C. et al. Effects of shRNA-Mediated SOX9 Inhibition on Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis in Human HCC Cell Line Hep3B Mediated by Ultrasound-Targeted Microbubble Destruction (UTMD). Cell Biochem Biophys 73, 553–558 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-015-0685-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-015-0685-6

Keywords

  • SOX9
  • UTMD
  • Proliferation
  • Cell apoptosis
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)