ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of quantitative pulmonary administration of the essential oil from Alpiniae Zerumbet Fructus （EOAZF） on porcine pancreatic elastase （PPE）-induced emphysema in mice and explore its action mechanism. MethodC57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into five group， namely the control group， model group， low- （2 mg·kg-1） and high-dose （20 mg·kg-1） EOFAZ groups， and positive control dexamethasone （DEX，1 mg·kg-1） group. The mice were treated with pulmonary administration of PPE using a microsprayer aerosolizer， once every seven days， for four times in total， for inducing emphysema. During this period， EOFAZ were administered with a quantitative microsprayer aerosolizer once every other day， for 14 times. The lung tissues were then sampled and stained with hematoxylin-eosin （HE） for observing the morphological changes and calculating the pulmonary mean linear intercept （MLI）. The concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， and interleukin-6 （IL-6） in the plasma were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The activities of superoxide dismutase （SOD） and catalase （CAT） and the content of malondialdehyde （MDA） in the lung tissues were measured using the biochemical assay kits. The protein expression levels of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 （Nrf2）， quinone oxidoreductase1 （NQO1）， B cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）-associated X protein （Bax）， and Bcl-2 in lung tissues were detected by Western blot. ResultThe results of lung morphological observation and MLI detection showed that compared with the control group， the model group showed obvious inflammatory infiltration， alveolar enlargement and fusion， and increased MLI （P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， EOFAZ effectively alleviated the pathological changes such as alveolar dilatation， pulmonary inflammatory cell infiltration， and lung cell apoptosis caused by PPE， and decreased the MLI （P<0.05）. As revealed by ELISA， the inflammatory level of mice in the model group increased significantly （P<0.01）， while the TNF-α， IL-1β， and IL-6 levels in the plasma were decreased after quantitative administration of EOFAZ （P<0.01）. Compared with the control group， the model group exhibited significantly enhanced oxidative stress （P<0.01）. After treatment with EOFAZ by quantitative administration， the activities of SOD and CAT in the lung tissue were increased （P<0.01） and the content of MDA was decreased （P<0.01）. Western blot results demonstrated that the apoptosis-related protein expression in the model group was increased significantly as compared with that in the control group （P<0.01）， whereas the expression levels of antioxidant stress proteins Nrf2 and NQO1 declined （P<0.05）. The relative protein expression of apoptosis-related proteins Bax/Bcl-2 in the EOFAZ groups was lower than that in the model group （P<0.01）， while the expression of antioxidant stress proteins Nrf2 and NQO1 was higher （P<0.05）. ConclusionQuantitative pulmonary administration of EOFAZ effectively alleviates the inflammation and oxidative stress， reduces lung cell apoptosis， and hinders the occurrence and development of emphysema. Its antioxidant mechanism is closely related to the up-regulation of Nrf2 and its downstream NQO1.
ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate the effect and mechanism of salidroside (SAL) on homocysteine (Hcy)-induced endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) based on the KLF4/eNOS signaling pathway. Methods (1) Salidroside inhibited Hcy-induced EndMT. HUVECs were pretreated with different concentrations of SAL for 2 h, then followed by Hcy (1 mmol · L-l) co-incubation for 48 hours to induce EndMT. The expression levels of VE-cadherin, α-SMA, KLF4 and eNOS were detected by Western blot, scratch repair experiment was used to determin cell migration ability, the level of NO in cells was determined by nitrate reductase method, and the expression and location of KLF4 were observed by immunofluorescence technology. (2) The signal mechanism of SAL inhibiting End-MT through KLF4/eNOS signal was studied. siRNA mediated knockdown of KLF4 in HUVECs, and the protein expression levels of VE-cadherin, α-SMA, KLF4 and eNOS in each group were determined by Western blot. Results Western blotting demonstrated that SAL significantly reversed the Hcy-induced increase in α-SMA and KLF4 expression and decrease in VE-cadherin and eNOS expression. The immunofluorescence analysis suggested that SAL inhibited the translocation of KLF4 from cytoplasm to nucleus. (2) Silencing KLF4 down-regulated the expression of α-SMA and KLF4, and up-regulated the expression of VE-cadherin and eNOS. Compared with the group of SAL + siKLF4, there was no significant difference in the effect of SAL group and siKLF4 group on phenotypic markers. Conclusions Salidroside inhibits EndMT induced by Hcy, which may be related to the regulation of KLF4/eNOS signaling pathway.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To develop the photosensitizer rose-bengal (RB)/upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs)/dihydroartemisinin (DHA) co-encapsulated liposomes (LIP-RUD) and preliminarily study the in vitro inhibition effects on human colon cancer. Methods: The hydrophilic UCNPs were synthesized by solvothermal and ligand conversion and RB/UCNPs/DHA were encapsulated by thin-film dispersion method to obtain LIP-RUD. HPLC was performed to determine the loading ratio (LR) of RB and DHA. Zetasizer was used to evaluate the physiochemical properties of liposomes. The production of ROS was investigated by SOSG probe. In vitro cellular uptake of LIP-RUD was observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and the cytotoxicity on HCT-116 cells was estimated by MTT assay. Results: LIP-RUD showed an average particle diameter of 150 nm with zeta potential of -12 mV. The LR of RB and DHA were 54.5% and 86.5%, respectively. The energy conversion efficiency of UCNPs and RB reached 49.8%. After irradiation, the singlet oxygen (1O2) was generated and 74.9% of encapsulated DHA was released from LIP-RUD at 12 h, which showed an improvement of up to 25.6% compared to the absence of laser irradiation group. In cellular experiments, LIP-RUD exerted improved cytotoxicity on HCT-116 cells. IC50 was 15.33 μmol/L under laser irradiation. Conclusion: LIP-RUD provides a new thought in the treatment of human colon cancer by the combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemotherapy, which is expected to enhance the penetration depth of PDT and the therapeutic effect of combination therapy.