Xinyuan Institute of Medicine and Biotechnology, Life Sciences College, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, Zhejiang, China; Laboratory of Viral and Gene Therapy, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Miltitary Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China
Objective : To study the cytotoxicity of oncolytic adenovirus SG7605-11R-P53 containing cell-penetrating peptide (11R) on hepatocellular carcinoma cells Hep3B and Huh7 in vitro. Methods: Western blotting analysis was used to detect the expression levels of P53 and 11R-P53 in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines HepG2, SMMC-7721, Hep3B and Huh7, and normal cell line BJ after SG7605-11R-P53 and SG7605-P53 infection. TCID50 assay was used to evaluate the replication ability of SG7605-11R-P53 and SG7605-P53 in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines; the cytotoxicity of SG7605-11R-P53 on hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and normal cell line was evaluated by MTT assay. Results: P53 and 11R-P53 proteins were highly expressed in both SG7605-11R-P53 and SG7605-P53 infected hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. SG7605-11R-P53 replicated in HepG2, SMMC-7721, Hep3B and Huh7 cells but could hardly replicate in normal BJ cells, and SG7605-11R-P53 had a 10-100 times higher replication than SG7605-P53. When MOI=1, the cytotoxicity rate of SG7605-11R-P53 against Hep3B cells was 90%, and when MOI increased to 50, SG7605-11R-P53 only had a weak inhibitory effect against normal BJ cells. The cytotoxicity effect of SG7605-11R-P53 against Hep3B, HepG2, Huh7 and SMMC-7721 cells decreased gradually. Conclusion: Adenovirus SG7605-11R-P53 containing cell-penetrating peptide (11R) can efficiently kill the 4 hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines in vitro, with the strongest effect seen on Hep3B cells. This study lays a foundation for further investigating the effect of SG7605-11R-P53 against liver cancer in vivo.