Study on effects of ferulic acid combined with adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells on apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells by regulating TGF-β/Smad signaling transduction pathway / 重庆医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of ferulic acid (FA) and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells(ADMSCs)on rat hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) by regulating TGF-β/smad signal transduction pathway.Methods HSCs were divided into 4 groupsblank control group,FA control group,ADMSCs control group and FA+ADMSCs group.The apoptosis rate of HSCs in each group was detected by flow cytometry.The expression levels of TGF-β1,Smad2,Smad3 and Smad7 mRNA in HSCs were detected by qRT-PCR.The TGF-β1 and Smad7 protein levels,and phosphorylated-Smad2/3 (p-Smad2/3)expression were detected by Western blot.Results Compared with the other 3 groups,the apoptosis rate of HSCs in the FA+ADMSCs group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),while the expression levels of TGF-β1,Smad2 and Smad3 mRNA were significantly decreased,and the Smad7 mRNA expression was increased;moreover,the expression levels of TGF-β1 protein and p-Smad2/3 were significantly decreased,while the Smad7 protein expression was significantly increased(P＜0.05).Conclusion FA can enhance the effect of ADMSCs for down-regulating the TGF-β1 expression in HSCs,and then leads to the decrease of downstream p-Smad2/3 activity and Smad7 expression increase,thus participates in promoting cellular apoptosis.