Journal of Practical Hepatology ›› 2022, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (1): 17-21.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-5069.2022.01.005

• Hepatitis in vitro and in mice • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Inhibition of subcutaneous transplanted hepatoma growth by ultrasound-mediated miR-16-5p loaded microbubbles with dendritic cell vaccine combination in mice

Shi Niu, Song Jie, Cui Tianqing, et al   

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, People's Hospital, Hohhot 010017, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
  • Received:2020-12-25 Published:2022-01-12

Abstract: Objective The paper aimed to investigate the effect of ultrasound-mediated miR-16-5p loaded microbubbles and dendritic cell (DC) vaccine on subcutaneous transplanted tumor growth in mice. Methods The polymer microbubbles loaded with miR-16-5p were prepared and their general properties were detected. The subcutaneous transplanted tumors by HepG2 cell injection were established in thirty mice, and were randomly divided into control, vacuous microbubble, miR-16-5p microbubble, DC vaccine, and miR-16-5p microbubble and DC vaccine combination intervention groups, with six mice in each group. The tumor growth of mice in each group was observed, the tumor growth curve was drawn and the tumor inhibition rate was calculated. The miR-16-5p levels in tumorous tissues were detected by real-time RT-PCR. Serum levels of IgG, IFN-γ, TGF-β, IL-2, and IL-10 were measured by ELISA. Results The prepared polymer microbubbles were spherical with an average particle size of 1.31 μm; the tumor volumes in control, vacuous microbubble, miR-16-5p microbubble, DC vaccine, and miR-16-5p microbubble and DC vaccine combination-intervened groups were(5973.2±257.4)mm3, (5912.3±248.3)mm3, (4873.7±281.5)mm3, (4954.9±276.3)mm3 and (2225.8±201.4)mm3, and the tumor mass were (4.4±0.4)g, (4.2±0.3)g, (2.8±0.2)g, (2.7±0.2)g and (0.9±0.2)g, significantly different among them(P<0.05); the tumorous miR-16-5p levels were (1.02±0.06), (1.05± 0.03), (7.81±0.97), (1.08±0.07) and (8.08± 1.06), suggesting that those in miR-16-5p microbubble- and DC vaccine combination-intervened groups were significantly higher than in other three groups (P<0.05); serum IgG, IFN-γ and IL-2 levels significantly increased, while serum TGF-β and IL-10 levels greatly decrease in miR-16-5p microbubble, DC vaccine, and miR-16-5p microbubble and DC vaccine combination intervention groups as compared to those in control or vacuous microbubble-intervened groups (P<0.05). Conclusion The administration of ultrasound-mediated miR-16-5p microbubbles and DC vaccine has a synergistic inhibitory effect on the growth of subcutaneous transplanted hepatoma in mice, which might be related to the enhancement immune functions.

Key words: Transplanted tumor, Ultrasound-mediated loaded microbubbles, miR-16-5p, Dendritic cell vaccine, Mice