Inhibitory Effect of Silencing PCAF Gene on Growth and Angiogenesis of Human Adrenocortical Carcinoma Xenograft in Nude Mice

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of silencing PCAF gene in adrenocortical carcinoma SW13 cells on tumor growth and angiogenesis, and related mechanism. Methods pLenti6.3-MiRNA-PCAF recombinant lentivirus, and plenti6.3-MiRNA-NC recombinant lentivirus were used to infect the SW13 cells respectively. The infected and untreated cells were inoculated into 15 nude mice's oxter. Fifteen nude mice were randomized into experiment group, negative control group and blank control group. The infected SW13 cells and non-infected SW13 cells were respectively incubated into nude mice to induce the xenografts model. The tumor growth was observed. Western blot and real-time quantitive fluorescent PCR were used to test the protein and mRNA expression of PCAF in the xenografts. HE staining was applied to observe the morphologic changes of transplanted tumor. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the positive expression of VEGF and the microvessel density(MVD). Results The average tumor volume in the experiment group was significantly less than those in the negative control and blank control groups with an inhibitory rate of 49.2% and 52.9% respectively. Western blot and qPCR showed that the protein and mRNA expression of PCAF was decreased by 58.4% and 74.3% in the experiment group, compared with the negative control group. The expression of VEGF protein was significantly lower in the experiment group than those in the negative control and blank control groups. MVD was significantly lower in the experiment group(19.4±4.2) than those in the negative control(42.7±6.5) and blank control groups(51.3±8.6). Conclusion pLenti6.3- MiRNA-PCAF mediated by lentiviral vector could effectively inhibit the growth and angiogenesis of adrenocortical carcinoma xenograft in nude mice.