PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - HIRAYUKI ENOMOTO AU - HIDEJI NAKAMURA AU - WEIDONG LIU AU - YOSHINORI IWATA AU - HIROKI NISHIKAWA AU - RYO TAKATA AU - KAZUNORI YOH AU - KUNIHIRO HASEGAWA AU - AKIO ISHII AU - TOMOYUKI TAKASHIMA AU - YOSHIYUKI SAKAI AU - NOBUHIRO AIZAWA AU - NAOTO IKEDA AU - HIROKO IIJIMA AU - SHUHEI NISHIGUCHI TI - Down-regulation of HDGF Inhibits the Growth of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells <em>In Vitro</em> and <em>In Vivo</em> DP - 2015 Dec 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 6475--6479 VI - 35 IP - 12 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/12/6475.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/12/6475.full SO - Anticancer Res2015 Dec 01; 35 AB - Background: Hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) is a growth factor of various malignant diseases. However, the in vivo effects of HDGF suppression targeting for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been clarified to date. Materials and Methods: We stably transfected HDGF shRNA into SK-HEP-1 human HCC cells and investigated the effects of HDGF reduction on HCC growth using a cell proliferation assay and a murine xenograft model. The effects of HDGF reduction on VEGF expression and in vivo angiogenesis were also investigated with real-time PCR and immunostaining analyses, respectively. Results: HDGF reduction resulted in a decreased proliferative activity of SK-HEP-1 cells both in vitro and in vivo. The in vivo anti-tumor effects of HDGF were particularly higher than that expected in vitro. HDGF-reduction suppressed VEGF expression in SK-HEP-1 cells and in vivo angiogenesis of developed tumors. Conclusion: These findings suggest that targeted inhibition of HDGF may be a novel anti-HCC therapy.