Anti-pyroptosis effect of Albiziae Cortex-Tribuli Fructus combination on hepatic stellate cell line LX2: based on network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

Based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and in vitro experimental verification, this study aims to explore the effect of Albiziae Cortex-Tribuli Fructus combination on HSC-LX2 pyroptosis. Specifically, the targets of Albiziae Cortex, Tribuli Fructus, and hepatic fibrosis were retrieved from an online database and CNKI, and "drug-component-target" network and "drug-component-target-disease" network were constructed. Protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was established based on STRING. Metascape was employed for Gene Ontology(GO) term enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment, and the mechanism of Albiziae Cortex-Tribuli Fructus combination against liver fibrosis was predicted. Molecular docking was used to verify some of the results of network pharmacology, and in vitro experiment was carried out to further verify the above conclusions. According to the results of network pharmacological analysis, 25 active components and 439 targets of Albiziae Cortex-Tribuli Fructus combination and 152 anti-liver fibrosis targets were screened out, including nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain and leucine-rich-repeat-and pyrin-domain-containing 3(NLRP3) and caspase-1. The key targets were involved in 194 KEGG pathways in which the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway topped. The binding common targets were related to pyroptosis. The results of in vitro experiment showed that the pair-containing serum reduced the proliferation rate of HSC-LX2 and the content of reactive oxygen species(ROS), interleukin-18(IL-18), and interleukin-1β(IL-1β)(P<0.05). Western blot and qRT-PCR suggested that the protein and gene expression of NLRP3, caspase-1, α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA), and gasdermin D(GSDMD) in HSC-LX2 increased after AngⅡ stimulation, and the expression decreased after the intervention of pair-containing serum(P<0.05). In summary, the pair-containing serum can inhibit the classic pathway of pyroptosis, which may be the anti-liver fibrosis mechanism. This is consistent with the predicted results of network pharmacology.

Effects of artesunate on the inhibition of hepatic fibrosis through ceramide synthase-ceramide pathway / 中国应用生理学杂志

To investigate the effects of ceramide pathway on the inhibition of artesunate (Art) to hepatic fibrosis. LX-2 cells were divided into control group, Art treated group with 350 μmol/L, fumonisin B1 (FB1) treated group with 6 μmol/L, and Co-administration group of artesunate 350 μmol/L and fumonisin B1 6 μmol/L. There were 7 compound holes in each group. After 24 hours of treatment, the cells and supernatant were collected and detected. The expressions of homo sapiens longevity assurance homologue 2 (LASS2), peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors-γ (PPAR-γ) and Caspase-3 were evaluated by Western blot, the content of ceramide was evaluated by HPLC-FLD method, MTT assay was adopted to measure the rate of proliferation of LX-2 cells. The content of hydroxyproline was determined by digestive method. Compared with the control group, the expression of ceramide synthase protein and the ceramide content were increased significantly, the proliferation of LX-2 cells was inhibited significantly, the expressions of PPAR-γ and Caspase-3 protein were up-regulated and the secretion of hydroxyproline was inhibited in Art treated group (P＜0.05). In FB1 treated group, the protein expression of ceramide synthase and the ceramide content were decreased significantly, the proliferation of LX-2 cells was increased significantly, the expressions of PPAR-γ and Caspase-3 protein were down-regulated, and the secretion of hydroxyproline was increased (P＜0.05). Compared with the Art alone group, the combination of the two drugs could significantly reduce the effects of Art on the expression of ceramide synthase protein and the increase of ceramide content, and attenuate the effects of Art on the cell proliferation , PPAR-γ, Caspase-3 protein expression and hydroxyproline level of LX-2 cells (P＜0.05). Artesunate could inhibit hepatic fibrosis by increasing the content of ceramide through the ceramide synthase-ceramide pathway.

Anti-fibrotic Effects and Mechanism of Shengmai Injection () on Human Hepatic Stellate Cells LX-2 / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effects of Shengmai Injection (, SMI) on the proliferation, apoptosis and N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2, a tumour suppressor gene) expression in varying densities of human hepatic stellate cells LX-2.@*METHODS@#LX-2 cells were cultured in vitro. Then, cells were plated in 96-well plates at an approximate density of 2.5×10 cells/mL and cultured for 48, 72, 96 or 120 h followed by the application of different concentrations of SMI (0.6, 1.2, 2.4, 4.8 or 6 μL/mL). Cell proliferation was measured after an additional 24 or 48 h using the 3(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The effects of SMI on different cell growth states (cultured for 48, 72, 96, or 120 h) were observed by light microscopy at 24 h after treatment. When the cells reached 80% conflfluence, apoptosis was detected by flflow cytometry after 24 h. Lastly, LX-2 cells were treated with different concentrations of SMI and extracted with protein lysis buffer. The levels of NDRG2 were measured by Western blot.@*RESULTS@#When the LX-2 cells grew for 48, 72, 96 and 120 h, 4.8 and 6 μL/mL of SMI significantly inhibited cell proliferation at 24 and 48 h after treatment (P<0.05). And 2.4 μL/mL of SMI also inhibited cell proliferation at 24 h after treatment when cell growth for 48 h (P<0.05) and at 48 h after treatment when cell growth for 72, 96 and 120 h (P<0.05). The NDRG2 expression level in the LX-2 cell was significantly increased when treated with SMI at concentrations of 1.2, 2.4, 4.8 or 6 μL/mL (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The inhibitory effects of SMI on the proliferation of LX-2 cells were related to not only concentration dependent but also cell density. In addition, SMI (2.4, 4.8 and 6 μL/mL) could accelerate apoptosis in LX-2 cells, and the mechanism might be associated with NDRG2 over-expression.

Inhibitory Effects of Protopine on the Proliferation of Human Hepatic Stellate Cells HSC-LX 2 and Its Mechanism Study / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE： To investigate inhibitory effects of protopine on the proliferation of human hepatic stellate cells HSC-LX2 and to explore its mechanism preliminarily. METHODS： MTT assay was used to detect the effects of 25， 50， 100， 200， 400 and 500 μmol/L protopine on the proliferation of HSC-LX2 cells. The inhibitory effect of cell proliferation was calculated. HSC-LX2 cells were divided into control group （1640 medium containing 5％ fetal bovine serum）， protopine low-concentration， medium-concentration and high-concentration groups （100， 200， 400 μmol/L）. After treated for 24 h. The apoptotic rate of the cells was detected by flow cytometry. RT-PCR was used to determine the mRNA expression of α-SMA， Collagen Ⅰ， Collagen Ⅲ， MMP-2 and TIMP-1 in cells. The protein expressions of α-SMA， Collagen Ⅰ， Collagen Ⅲ and MMP-2 were detected by Western blot. RESULTS： The inhibitory rates of 25， 50， 100， 200， 400 and 500 μmol/L protopine on proliferation HSC-LX2 cells were 0， 6.9％， 18.7％， 34.2％， 48.9％， 53.9％， respectively. Compared with control group， mRNA expression of Collagen Ⅰ， TIMP-1 and protein expression of α-SMA were decreased significantly in protopine low-concentration， medium-concentration and high-concentration groups， while protein expression of MMP- 2 was increased significantly， with statistical significance （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Apoptotic rate of HSC-LX2 cells and mRNA expression of MMP-2 were increased significantly in protopine medium-concentration and high-concentration groups， mRNA expression of α-SMA and Collagen Ⅲ， protein expression of Collagen Ⅰ and Collagen Ⅲ were decreased significantly， with statistical significance （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： Protopine can induce the apoptosis of HSC-LX2 cells and inhibit their cell proliferation， and reduce the expression of a-SMA， Collagen Ⅰ， Collagen Ⅲ and TIMP-1， and increase the expression of MMP-2.

Lx2-32c, a novel semi-synthetic taxane, exerts antitumor activity against prostate cancer cellsand

Tubulin has been shown to be an effective target for the development of cytotoxic agents against prostate cancer. Previously, we reported that Lx2-32c is an anti-tubulin agent with high binding affinity to tubulin. In this study, we investigated the potential of Lx2-32c to act as an effective cytotoxic agent in the treatment of prostate cancer. MTT assays showed that Lx2-32c was cytotoxic to all tested prostate cancer cell lines. The Lx2-32c-treated cells typically exhibited a rounded morphology associated with the onset of apoptosis, as evidenced by immunocytochemical staining. Human prostate cancer cell lines treated with Lx2-32c arrest in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and the treatment is associated with an increased ratio of cells in the sub-G0/G1 phase as determined by flow cytometry. Furthermore, expression of the cleaved form of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase in prostate cancer cell lines treated with Lx2-32c was shown by Western blotting assay. Xenograft implants of LNCaP and PC3-derived tumors in nude mice showed that Lx2-32c treatment significant inhibited tumor growth with effects equivalent to those of docetaxel. These findings demonstrate the potential of Lx2-32c as a candidate antitumor agent for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Effects of siRNA inhibit HMGA1 gene expression on LX-2 cell biological functions / 重庆医学

Objective To investigate the effects of siRNA mediated HMGA 1 silence on proliferation and the gene expression of HMGA1 ,α-SMA and E-cadherin in activated hepatic stellate cells and its mechanisms .Methods Synthetic HMGA1 siRNA was transfected into LX-2 cells to silence the HMGA1 gene .The expression level of HMGA1 ,α-SMA and E-cadherin was determined by RT-PCR and Western blot experiments .LX-2 cell proliferation was assessed by M TT assay .Results The best inhibited effect was HMGA1-siRNA-1 .Compared with control group ,the cell proliferation and the mRNA and protein expression of HMGA 1 ,α-SMA in TGF-β1 group and TGF-β1 + NC-siRNA group were significantly increased (P 0 .05) ,while the expression of E-cadherin in TGF-β1 group and TGF-β1 + NC-siRNA group were significantly decreased compared with control group (P< 0 .05) .Meanwhile ,the cells in TGF-β1 + HMGA1 siRNA group showed significantly decreased proliferation level ,down-regulated mRNA and protein expression of HMGA 1 ,α-SMA but up-regulated expression of E-cadherin compared with TGF-β1 group and TGF-β1 + NC-siRNA group(P< 0 .05) .Conclusion HMGA1 interference could signifi-cantly down-regulate the expression of HMGA1 in LX-2 cells cultured with TGF-β1 ,thus inhibiting the proliferation and activation of the cells .

Over-expression vector construction of human DcR3 gene and its validation / 中国免疫学杂志

Objective:To construct the human DcR3 expression vector and verify its expression in vitro. Methods: 915 bp human DcR3 gene CDS was amplified from porcine lung tissues,and was cloned into eukaryotic expression vector pEF1a-IRES-DsRed-Express2 which show red fluorescence. And then pEF1a-IRES-DsRed-Express2-DcR3 was transfected into LX-2 cells by FuGene HD. Expression of mRNA and protein lever of Human DcR3 were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. Results:The levels of DcR3 gene transcription and translation in the hepatic stellate cells were significantly increased after transfection with pEF1a-IRES-DsRed-Ex-press2-DcR3 by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Conclusion: DcR3 expression vector was successfully constructed and highly expressed in LX-2 cells.

Effect of plumbagin on levels of Nox4/ROS andα-SMA in human hepatic stellate cells / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To observe the effect of plumbagin on the mRNA and protein expression of nicotinamide ade -nine dinucleotidephosphate oxidase 4 ( Nox4 ) , reactive oxygen species ( ROS ) level and protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in the HSC-LX2 cells stimulated with transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) in vitro.METH-ODS:HSC-LX2 cells were cultured in vitro and divided into blank group, model group, high-, medium-and low-dose (2, 1.5 and 1 μmol/L) plumbagin groups .After incubated with each drug for 72 h, the mRNA expression of Nox4 was detec-ted by RT-PCR.ROS levels were tested by in situ loading probe method.The protein contents of Nox4 and α-SMA were measured by Western blot .RESULTS:Compared with model group , after treated with plumbagin for 72 h, the mRNA ex-pression of Nox4, ROS level and α-SMA protein were significantly decreased in high-and medium-dose plumbagin groups (P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Plumbagin inhibits the activation of HSC-LX2 cells via decreasing the expression of Nox4, thus decreasing ROS levels .

Spectrum-activity relationship on anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy of Trionycis Carapax / 中草药

Objective: To investigate the spectrum-activity relationship between HPLC of Trionycis Carapax from different regions and its anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy, in order to reveal the "active component group" for anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy of Trionycis Carapax. Methods: The samples from 12 regions were determined with the HPLC-DAD method. The representative standard fingerprint was calculated using the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Version 2004A). The common patten and the principal component analysis (PCA) were established. Using the LX-2 hepatic stellate cell as a hepatic fibrosis model of Trionycis Carapax to study its inhibition on the hepatic fibrosis cells. The spectrum-effect relationship was studied by SPSS 19.0 software. Results: Seven common peaks in the HPLC-fingerprint of Trionycis Carapax were obtained. It was tentatively concluded that peaks 2 and 5 related better to the inhibitory effect of LX-2 cells (OD value) in the seven characteristic peaks. Peak 4 had the strongest correlation. And the quality of Trionycis Carapax was influenced by the concentration of peak 4 obtained by PCA. Conclusion: All the samples could inhibit the proliferation of LX-2 hepatic stellate cell in some extent. There may be a certain relationship between HPLC fingerprint and anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy. In addition, the research could be used as the quality control method of Trionycis Carapax.

An in vitro analytical method based on MTT assay for the determination of dissolution rate of Fufangbiejiaruangan tablet / 中国药学杂志

OBJECTIVE: To explore the new pattern of Chinese medicine solid preparations (CMSP) in vitro dissolution, a method testing the cell inhibition rate in combination with HPLC was used. METHODS: MTT assay was used to obtain the characteristic cell inhibition rate by Fufangbiejiaruangan tablet dissolving solutions at the pH 7.4 (phosphate buffer) dissolution medium at different times. From these results, the cumulative dissolution of Fufangbiejiaruangan tablets based on cell inhibition rate was obtained. The dissolution rate of paeoniflorin was determined by HPLC method. Then f2 similar factor method was used to evaluate the relevance of these two methods. RESULTS: f2 values was less than 50, indicating that there is a poor correlation between the two methods of measuring the dissolution rate. It is unfeasible to determine CMSP in vitro dissolution just by using paeoniflorin cumulative dissolution. CONCLUSION: Biological testing is expected to become CMSP in vitro dissolution of one of the evaluation tools.