OBJECTIVETo elucidate the effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A ( HYSA) on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and the related mechanism.

METHODSVSMCs derived from SD rats were treated with DMEC culture medium (Control), 10 ng/ml PDGF (PDGF group), pretreatment with HYSA at different doses (1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 µmol/L) for 24 h then cotreatment with PDGF. After 24 h, MTT assay, Western blot and immunohistochemical staining were performed to evaluate the inhibitory effects of HYSA on VSMCs proliferation.

RESULTSHYSA inhibited PDGF induced VSMCs proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, dowregulated proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression and blocked PDGF activated PDGFR-MEK-ERK1/2 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONSHYSA inhibits VSMCs proliferation possibly via downregulating the expression of PCNA and blocking MEK-ERK1/2 signal transduction in VSMCs.

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Chalcone ; analogs & derivatives ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Quinones ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Abstrac:Aim To study the effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A ( HYSA ) on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells ( VSMCs) and the related molecu-lar mechanism. Methods The inhibitory effects of hydroxysafflor yellow A on VSMC proliferation was de-tected using cell culture, MTT assay, Western blot and immunohistochemical staining. Results The results showed that HYSA inhibited cell proliferation induced by PDGF in a dose-dependent (5,10,20,40 μmol· L-1 ) manner, reduced proliferating cell nuclear anti-gen ( PCNA ) expression and blocked PDGFR-MEK-ERK1/2 signaling pathway activated by PDGF in VSMCs. Conclusion HYSA inhibits VSMCs prolifer-ation via reducing the expression of PCNA and blocking signal transduction of MEK-ERK1/2 in VSMCs.