Metformin inhibits collagen production in rat biliary fibroblasts: the molecular signaling mechanism / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To clarify the molecular signaling mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of metformin on transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-stimulated collagen I production in rat biliary fibroblasts.@*METHODS@#Primary biliary fibroblasts were isolated under aseptic condition from 50 Sprague-Dawley rats (half male and half female), and microscopic observation identified no obvious difference in the morphology or viability of the cells from rats with different sexes or body weight. The cells were treated with TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL), Smad3 siRNA+TGF-β1, CTGF siRNA+TGF-β1, metformin (10 mmol/L)+ TGF-β1, or Compound C (10 μmol/L)+metformin+TGF-β1. The expressions of CTGF and collagen I in the treated cells were determined using ELISA kit or Western blotting; the phorsphorylated and total Smad3 and AMPK expressions were detected using immunoblotting.@*RESULTS@#TGF-β1 time- and dose-dependently induced collagen I production in rat biliary fibroblasts. The activated AMPK by metformin dose-dependently inhibited TGF-β1-induced collagen I production. Pre-incubation of cells with the AMPK inhibitor Compound C restored the inhibitory effect of AMPK on TGF-β1-induced collagen I secretion ( < 0.01). Activation of AMPK by metformin significantly reduced TGF-β1-induced collagen I production by suppressing Smad3-driven CTGF expression ( < 0.01), and the application of Compound C reversed such changes in the fibroblasts ( < 0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Metformin inhibits TGF-β1-stimulated collagen I production by activating AMPK and inhibiting Smad3- driven CTGF expression in rat biliary fibroblasts.

Inhibitation of Paclitaxel-Chitosan Sustain iflm on biliary ifbroblasts cell proliferation / 中国生化药物杂志

Objective To explore the effect of Paclitaxel-Chitosan Sustain film on growth, apoptosis and cell cycle of biliary fibroblasts cells. Methods Human biliary fibroblasts cells were cultured and treated with PTX-CSF and naked PTX,separately, untreated cells as blank control. The experiment was divided into five groups:untreated group, simple PTX-treated group (250nM) and low, medium and high chitosan sustained-release film PTX-treated group (100 nM, 250 nM, 500 nM). The proliferations of cells were determined by MTT assay. The apoptosis and cell cycle of cells were detected by FCM. Results The proliferation of biliary fibroblasts cells was inhibited by PTX-CSF with time-dependent and dose-dependent, and the inhibiting effect was more obvious than naked PTX treatment as the time went on. Meanwhile, PTX-CSF could inhibit the magration of bile duct fibroblasts induced by TGF-β1,and had longer effect than naked PTX. After 72 h, the apoptosis rate of cells treated with PTX-CSF was significantly higher than cells treated with naked PTX or untreated cells(P<0.05), the difference between naked PTX or untreated cells was not significant. Compared with untreated cells, the proportion of G 2/M in cells treated with PTX or PTX-CSF were significantly increased, and the former was sinificantly higher than the latter(P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with naked PTX, PTX-CSF has strong cytotoxic effects and obviously sustained-release effect. The effective concentration can be maintain for a long time by PTX-CSF, and it could be as the novel drug delivery system to continuously inhibit proliferation of bile duct fibroblasts.