TPM RNA-seq data of HCC xenograft tissues treated with or without nitidine chloride

In recent times, traditional Chinese medicine has gained popularity in the clinical management of human cancers due to its anti-tumor pharmacological action, synergism with chemotherapy and toxity-reducing effect. Nitidine chloride (NC) is a natural alkaloid extracted from the root of traditional Chinese herb Zanthoxylum nitidum and we have previously discovered the tumor-combating activities of NC in HCC. It would be interesting to analyze the influence of NC on expression profiles of genes in HCC. Herein, in vivo experiment was carried out on nude mice for evaluating changes in gene expression profiles from xenograft of HCC tissues before and after the treatment of NC. The animal experiments were performed according to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Shanghai SLAC Laboratory Animal of China, 2015) and were approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University (Nanning, China). BALB/c nude mice were purchased from Guangxi Medical University Animal Center (Guangxi, China). The mice were housed in pathogen-free conditions with a 12 h light/12 h dark cycle at room temperature. SMMC7721 cells (1 × 107 cells/L) were injected into the right armpit of each mouse. Fourteen days later, mice with a tumour volume of approximately 70 mm3 were randomized into two groups: The negative control group containing three mice was intraperitoneally injected with saline, and the NC group containing three mice was intraperitoneally injected with 7 mg/kg/d NC. After 15 days of drug administration every other day, the mice were euthanized and the tumour tissues were excised and stored at -80℃. MRNA-sequencing was conducted following the procedures of NEB Next® UltraTM Directional RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina® (NEB, USA).

近年来，中医药凭借其抗肿瘤药理活性、与化疗的协同增效及减毒作用，在人类恶性肿瘤的临床诊疗中得到了广泛应用。氯化两面针碱（Nitidine chloride, NC）是从中草药两面针（Zanthoxylum nitidum）根部提取的天然生物碱，我们前期已证实其在肝细胞癌（hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC）中具有抗肿瘤活性。分析NC对肝癌细胞基因表达谱的影响颇具研究价值。为此，本研究通过裸鼠体内实验，探究NC处理前后肝癌组织异种移植瘤的基因表达谱变化。本动物实验严格遵循《中国上海SLAC实验动物护理与使用指南》（2015）开展，并经广西医科大学第一附属医院伦理委员会批准（中国南宁）。BALB/c裸小鼠购自广西医科大学动物实验中心（中国广西）。实验小鼠饲养于无特定病原体（SPF）环境，采用12小时光照/12小时黑暗的光照周期，于室温条件下饲养。将SMMC7721细胞（1×10^7 个/升）接种于每只小鼠右侧腋下。14天后，选取肿瘤体积约70 mm³的小鼠随机分为两组：阴性对照组（3只小鼠），腹腔注射生理盐水；NC处理组（3只小鼠），腹腔注射7 mg/kg/d的NC。隔日给药，持续15天后，处死小鼠并切除肿瘤组织，置于-80℃冰箱保存。本研究采用NEB Next® UltraTM 定向RNA文库制备试剂盒（适配Illumina®测序平台，美国NEB公司）的标准流程开展mRNA测序。