A novel xenograft model of human HCC in immunocompetent mouse

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors that threaten human health; thus, the establishment of an animal model with clinical features similar to human liver cancer is of important practical significance. Taking advantage of the novel microcarrier-6, human HCC cells was injected into immunocompetent mice to establish a novel human HCC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model. Primary HCC cells were isolated from fresh liver cancer tissues, which were subsequently co-cultured with microcarrier-6 to construct a three-dimensional tumor cell culture model in vitro. The HCC-microcarrier complex was implanted into mice by subcutaneous inoculation, and the tumor formation time, tumor formation rate, and pathological manifestation were recorded. Changes of immune parameters in mice were detected by flow cytometry. The success rate was 60% (6/10) in the establishment of liver cancer PDX mouse model, and the total tumor formation rate of the tumor-forming model is 80-100%. H&E staining and immunohistochemical experiments indicate that the model well retained the characteristics of the primary tumor. Interestingly, M2 macrophages in tumor-bearing mice increased significantly, and the levels of CD4+ T cells were significantly reduced. Through the application of the microcarrier-6 in immunocompetent mice, we successfully established a novel human HCC PDX model, which can be used to better study and further elucidate the occurrence and pathogenic mechanism of HCC.