Shuyu pills inhibit immune escape and enhance chemosensitization in hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 3 Shuyu pills inhibited the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha, programmed cell death 1, and programmed cell death 1 ligand 1. Nude mice injected subcutaneously with human hepatocellular carcinoma cells were treated with Shuyu pills (SYP), Cisplatin (DDP), or a combination of the two for 14 d, following which the tumor tissues were harvested as indicated. A–C: Western blot and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays were used to respectively detect the protein and mRNA expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), and programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) in the tumor tissue; D: Representative protein expression patterns of HIF-1α, PD-1, and PD-L1 as measured by western blot assay. Data are presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean, and comparisons between two groups were performed using the least significant difference test or Dunnett’s T3 method. ^aP < 0.05 and ^bP < 0.01 vs Control group; ^cP < 0.05 and ^dP < 0.01 vs SYP group; ^eP < 0.05 and ^fP < 0.01 vs SYP + DDP group. SYP: Shuyu pills; DDP: Cisplatin; HIF-1α: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha; PD-1: Programmed cell death 1; PD-L1: Programmed cell death 1 ligand 1.