Figure 4

GRh2 treatment inhibits growth of HCC cells in vivo.

(A) We transduced HepG2 cells with luciferease under a CMV promoter. (B,C) The transduced cells were used for in vivo tracing. We thus injected these cells subcutaneously into NOD/SCID mice to develop tumor. Four weeks later, GRh2 (1 mg/kg body weight) was injected from the tail vein of the mice twice per week for 4 weeks. Control mice received injection of saline of same volume and same frequency. Bioluminescence was then measured, showing significant impairment of implanted tumor growth by quantification (B) and by representative images (C). (D,E) The dissected and dissociated tumor from mice treated with GRh2 had significantly lower percentage of Aldefluor + cells, shown by quantification (D) and by representative flow charts (E). *p < 0.05. Each experiment group contained 10 mice.