ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of Yanghetang （YHT） on breast cancer 4T1 cells and their mitogen-activated protein kinase （MEK）/extracellular signal-regulated kinase （ERK） signaling pathway. MethodThe YHT-containing serum was prepared from SD rats. The rats were randomly assigned into a blank group （normal saline） and low-， medium-， and high-dose （5.8， 11.6， 23.2 g·kg-1， respectively） YHT groups. The serum containing 10% YHT in each group was mixed with 90% RMPI 1640 complete medium， and the mixture was used to interfere with the cells. Cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） method was used to detect the proliferation of the 4T1 cells treated with YHT for 24， 48， 72 h. The apoptosis， migration， and invasion of 4T1 cells were detected by flow cytometry， scratch test， and Transwell assay， respectively. Western blot was employed to determine the expression levels of MEK1/2， phosphorylation （p）-MEK1/2， ERK1/2， p-ERK1/2， and rat sarcoma virus （RAS） protein. ResultCompared with the blank group， the intervention with YHT-containing serum for 24， 48， and 72 h had significant inhibitory effect on 4T1 cell proliferation （P<0.05， P<0.01）. After intervention with YHT-containing serum for 48 h， the apoptosis rate of cells increased （P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the intervention with YHT for 24 h and 48 h decreased the healing ability of cells in the scratch test （P<0.01）. The invasive ability of cells treated with the low， medium， and high-dose YHT containing serum showed a decreasing trend （P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， YHT-containing serum did not change the expression of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 while down-regulating the expression of p-MEK1/2， p-ERK1/2， and RAS protein （P<0.01）. ConclusionYHT can inhibit the proliferation， migration， and invasion and promote the apoptosis of breast cancer 4T1 cells. In may promote the apoptosis by inhibiting the MEK/ERK signaling pathway and down-regulating the expression of p-MEK1/2， p-ERK1/2， and RAS protein.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation on angiogenesis and functional recovery after focal cerebral ischemia in rats.Methods BMSCs were isolated and cultured using the whole bone marrow adherent method,and conducted phenotypic identification using flow cytometry analysis of surface positive antigen of CD29,CD90 and the negative antigen of CD34,CD45.Rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 minutes,and divided into three groups randomly,the sham group,model group and BMSCs group.24 hours after cerebral ischemia,rats were injected with 1 ml BMSCs solution (1 × 106 cells/ml) or PBS via the tail vein.The modified neurological severity score(mNSS) test,the corner test and the adhesive tape test were used to evaluate sensorimotor function on the 1,7,14 and 28 days after ischemia.Infarcted volume was detected by toluidine blue staining,and the numbers of vWF positive microvessels and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) positive cells in the ischemic boundary were determined by immunofluorescence.Results By flow cytometric analysis,the cell phenotype of passage 3 BMSCs showed that CD29,CD90,CD34 and CD45 were 98.3％,97.4％,0.2％ and 4.8％,respectively.Compared with the model group,BMSCs significantly reduced the score of mNSS(P＜0.01),the number of right turn of corner test(P＜0.05),latency of removal adhesive tape(P＜0.05) and the infarcted volume (P＜0.01).The numbers of vWF positive vesscls and the VEGF positive cells were (42.97±8.64)/mm2 and (54.83± 10.66)/mm2 at the boundary zone in model group 14 days after ischemia,respectively.BMSCs significantly increased the numbers of vWF positive vessels ((69.43± 7.29)/mm2) and VEGF positive cells ((78.70±6.16)/mm2,P＜0.01).Conclusion BMSCs can improve the functions of cerebral lesions after cerebral ischemia,which may be associated with the enhanced angiogenesis and VEGF expression in the ischemic boundary.