Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Feb;36(1):198-203.
doi: 10.1007/s00270-012-0466-1. Epub 2012 Aug 25.

AS30D model of hepatocellular carcinoma: tumorigenicity and preliminary characterization by imaging, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry

Scott M Thompson  1 , Matthew R Callstrom, Bruce Knudsen, Jill L Anderson, Kim A Butters, Joseph P Grande, Lewis R Roberts, David A Woodrum
Affiliations

AS30D model of hepatocellular carcinoma: tumorigenicity and preliminary characterization by imaging, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry

Scott M Thompson et al. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2013 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: This study was designed to determine the tumorigenicity of the AS30D HCC cell line following orthotopic injection into rat liver and preliminarily characterize the tumor model by both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US) as well as histopathology and immunohistochemistry.

Materials: AS30D cell line in vitro proliferation was assessed by using MTT assay. Female rats (N = 5) underwent injection of the AS30D cell line into one site in the liver. Rats subsequently underwent MR imaging at days 7 and 14 to assess tumor establishment and volume. One rat underwent US of the liver at day 7. Rats were euthanized at day 7 or 14 and livers were subjected to gross, histopathologic (H&E), and immunohistochemical (CD31) analysis to assess for tumor growth and neovascularization.

Results: AS30D cell line demonstrated an in vitro doubling time of 33.2 ± 5.3 h. MR imaging demonstrated hyperintense T2-weighted and hypointense T1-weighted lesions with tumor induction in five of five and three of three sites at days 7 and 14, respectively. The mean (SD) tumor volume was 126.1 ± 36.2 mm(3) at day 7 (N = 5). US of the liver demonstrated a well-circumscribed, hypoechoic mass and comparison of tumor dimensions agreed well with MRI. Analysis of H&E- and CD31-stained sections demonstrated moderate-high grade epithelial tumors with minimal tumor necrosis and evidence of diffuse intratumoral and peritumoral neovascularization by day 7.

Conclusions: AS30D HCC cell line is tumorigenic following orthotopic injection into rat liver and can be used to generate an early vascularizing, slower-growing rat HCC tumor model.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest and have conducted this research in compliance with institutional ethical and regulatory guidelines.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram showing the experimental design and procedures
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) and US imaging of rat liver 7 days postsurgery with AS30D HCC cell injection at the time of surgery. Axial (A) and coronal Fast Spin Echo (FSE) (B) T2-weighted MR images demonstrate a 0.5-cm hyperintense liver lesion. C Corresponding US demonstrates a circumscribed, hypoechoic lesion (white arrowheads) within the liver lobe
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Gross and microscopic pathology of AS30D tumor model. A Gross pathology of AS30D tumor in the right segment of the median hepatic lobe (white arrowheads) 7 days after cell injection. Photomicrographs: B AS30D tumor with evidence of cellular and nuclear pleomorphism, mitotic figures, intracellular vacuoles and blood vessel formation (H&E 100×). C AS30D tumor (H&E, 50×) and D corresponding immunohistochemistry demonstrating diffuse intratumoral and peritumoral CD31 staining outlining neovascularization (CD31, 50×). White arrowheads in (C) and (D) denote tumor margin
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aravalli RN, Steer CJ, Sahin MB, Cressman EN. Stem cell origins and animal models of hepatocellular carcinoma. Dig Dis Sci. 2010;55(5):1241–1250. - PubMed
    1. Aravalli RN, Golzarian J, Cressman EN. Animal models of cancer in interventional radiology. Eur Radiol. 2009;19(5):1049–1053. - PubMed
    1. Burke CT, Cullen JM, State A, et al. Development of an animal model for radiofrequency ablation of primary, virally induced hepatocellular carcinoma in the woodchuck. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2011;22(11):1613–1618. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guo Y, Klein R, Omary RA, Yang GY, Larson AC. Highly malignant intra-hepatic metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in rats. Am J Transl Res. 2010;3(1):114–120. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ju S, McLennan G, Bennett SL, et al. Technical aspects of imaging and transfemoral arterial treatment of N1-S1 tumors in rats: an appropriate model to test the biology and therapeutic response to transarterial treatments of liver cancers. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2009;20(3):410–414. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms