Effects and mechanisms of silibinin on human hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts in nude mice

Figure 1 Effects of silibinin on proliferation and cell cycle progression in HuH7 xenograft tissue specimens. A: Silibinin inhibited Ki-67 expression; B: Silibinin inhibited Rb phosphorylation; C: Silibinin inhibited E2F1/DP1 complex formation; D: Silibinin increased p27/CDK4 complex formation; E: Silibinin inhibited Plk1 expression; F: Silibinin increased Chk1 expression; G: β-actin as internal control; H: Silibinin inhibited nuclear NF-κB content. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01 vs control.

Figure 2 Effects of silibinin on AFP production and secretion. A: Silibinin reduced AFP production; B: Silibinin reduced AFP secretion. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01 vs control.

Figure 3 Effects of silibinin on apoptosis in HuH7 xenograft tissue. A: Silibinin induced apoptosis; B: Silibinin inhibited survivin phosphorylation. ^aP < 0.05 vs control.

Figure 4 Effects of silibinin on P-Akt and P-ERK pathways in HuH7 xenograft tissue. A: Silibinin inhibited p-Akt expression; B: Silibinin increased PTEN expression; C: Silibinin inhibited P-ERK expression; D: β-actin as internal control; E: Silibinin increased PTEN activity. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01 vs control.

Figure 5 Effects of silibinin on AC-H3, AC-H4, and SOD1 in HuH7 xenograft tissue. A: Silibinin increased AC-H3 expression; B: Silibinin increased AC-H4 expression; C: Silibinin increased SOD1 expression in HuH7 xenograft tissue; D: β-actin as internal control. ^aP < 0.05 vs control.