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.

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.

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 .