Fig. 5
Genipin suppresses HCC progression and improves survival rate of tumor-bearing mice. MHCC97L cells (5 × 105) were used to established orthotopic mice xenograft models. Tumor-bearing mice were administrated with DSMO or genipin by intraperitoneal injection (n = 8). (a) Tumor weight of primary liver cancer in mice was detected after DSMO (0.1%) or genipin treatment. (b) To evaluate lung metastasis in orthotopic transplantation HCC mice, lung tissues were dissected after DSMO or genipin treatment. Representative paraffin sections of lung tissue were stained with hematoxylin and eosin at 20× magnification. Scale bar 100 μm. (c) Lung metastasis was examined under anatomic microscope and number of metastasis nodules was calculated by three individual researchers. (d) Protein expression of p-STAT-3 (Y705) and target gene expression in primary liver tumors were detected by western blot assay. (e) Protein expressions of CD31 and phospho-STAT-3 were evaluated by immunohistochemical method. Scale bar 40 μm. (f) Overall survival was analyzed after DSMO or genipin treatment (0–50 d) in tumor-bearing mice. Genipin vs vehicle (25 mg/kg), P = 0.0002; genipin vs vehicle (50 mg/kg), P < 0.0001. Data presented as mean ± SD. **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001