AIMTo study the effect of thyroid hormone on protein kinase C activity and isoprotein expressions in cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts of rats in vitro.

METHODSCardiac myocytes and fibroblasts were cultured according to the method of Simpson. Cells were pretreated with 1% newborn calf serum (NCS) or Angiotensin II (Ang II) for 24 hours, then Triiodothyronine (T3) was added to the culture medium and the culture was kept for another 48 hours. The protein kinase C activation were measured by PepTaga non-radioactive PKC assay, and the expressions of PKC alpha and PKC epsilon were detected by Western blot method.

RESULTSAt the condition of 1% NCS culture medium, T3 could inhibit PKC activity and PKC epsilon expression in cardiac myocytes significantly, but the expression of PKC alpha in cardiac myocytes was not influenced by T3. In cardiac fibroblasts, neither PKC activity nor PKC alpha and PKC epsilon expressions was influenced by T3. When cells were pretreated with Ang II for 24 hours, PKC activities in cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts were increased significantly, and PKC epsilon expressions in cardiac myocytes were also markedly increased. Following a T3 treatment, PKC activity and PKC epsilon expression in cardiac myocytes were markedly decreased, but PKC activity in cardiac fibroblasts was not changed.

CONCLUSIONWhether at the condition of 1% NCS medium or in a pretreatment with Ang II, thyroid hormone could inhibit the PKC activity and PKC epsilon expression in cardiac myocytes. The influence of thyroid hormone on the PKC signal pathway in cardiac myocyte may be involved in many pathophysiological progress of myocardium.

Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Myoblasts, Cardiac ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Protein Kinase C ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects ; Thyroid Hormones ; pharmacology

AIMTo investigate the effects of pravastatin on endothelin(ET) expression induced by aldosterone in cultured neonatal rat cardiac fibroblasts.

METHODSET concentration in conditioned medium was measured by radioimmunoassay, intracellular ET-1 level was evaluated by flow cytometry, and the expression of preproendothelin-1 (ppET-1) was detected and quantified using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.

RESULTSThe cardiac fibroblasts, treated with aldosterone at 107 mol/L, significantly up-regulated ppET-1 mRNA expression, as well as ET-1 synthesis and release. Pravastatin (10(-5), 10(-4), 10(-3) mol/L) dose-dependently blocked these effects. In contrast, pravastatin-induced inhibitory effects were reversed in the presence of mevalonate.

CONCLUSIONPravastatin down-regulated ppET-1 mRNA expression, as well as ET-1 synthesis and release induced by aldosterone in a process specifically related to mevalonate in cardiac fibroblasts.

Aldosterone ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelins ; metabolism ; Fibroblasts ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Myoblasts, Cardiac ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Pravastatin ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

AIMTo investigate whether AcSDKP can inhibit proliferation and collagen synthesis in cultured rat cardiac fibroblasts mediated by PDGF.

METHODSNeonatal rat cardiac fibroblasts were isolated. The cell proliferation was observed by 3H-proline incorporation assay.

RESULTSOn the culture of 0.4% FBS, PDGF stimulated cardiac fibroblasts proliferation and collagen synthesis with a dose-dependent manner at the concentrations from 1 ng/ml to 20 ng/ml, in which 10 ng/ml PDGF reached its peak. AcSDKP at the concentration from 10(-10) mol/L to 10(-8) mol/L could inhibit cardiac fibroblasts proliferation and collagen synthesis mediated by PDGF. 10(-9) mol/L AcSDKP attained its peak on inhibiting cardiac fibroblasts proliferation and collagen synthesis.

CONCLUSIONAcSDKP can inhibit proliferation and collagen synthesis in cultured rat cardiac fibroblasts mediated by PDGF.

Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Collagen ; biosynthesis ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Myoblasts, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Oligopeptides ; pharmacology ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVE: To observe whether HSP70 could protect against H2O2-induced apoptosis in C2C12 myogenic cells by inhibiting Smac release from the mitochondria. METHODS: HSP70 gene and full length Smac gene was transiently transfected in C2C12 myogenic cells by lipofectamine and the protein levels of HSP70 and Smac were analysed by Western blotting. Hoechst 33 258 staining was used to examine cell morphological changes and to calculate percentage of apoptotic nuclei. DNA ladder pattern on agarose gel electrophoresis was used to observe the DNA fragmentation. Activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were assayed with Western blotting. The release of Smac from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm was observed by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: H2O2 ( 0.5 mmol/L ) activated caspase-3, caspase-9 8 h after the treatment and specific morphological changes of apoptosis 12 h after the treatment, and overexpression of Smac significantly promoted H2O2-induced activation of caspase-3, caspase-9 and apoptosis in C2C12 myogenic cells. HSP70 overexpression significantly inhibited H2O2-induced and Smac-promoted apoptosis, as shown by no specific DNA ladder pattern in agarose gel electrophoresis, decrease of percentage of apoptotic nuclei, and marked inactivation of caspase-3 and caspase-9. HSP70 could inhibit the release of Smac from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm 2 h after the treatment by H2O2. CONCLUSION HSP70 inhibits Smac release from the mitochondria and protects against H2O2-induced apoptosis in C2C12 myogenic cells.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; Cells, Cultured ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; metabolism ; Mitochondria, Heart ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Mitochondrial Proteins ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Myoblasts ; metabolism ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; metabolism

OBJECTIVERecent studies have shown cardiac protection effects of erythropoietin (EPO). The present experiment was designed to investigate the effects of EPO on TGF-beta1, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), collagen contents induced by angiotensin II (Ang II) in rat cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) and explore the roles of PI3-K/Akt signaling pathway on related effects.

METHODSNeonatal rat CFs was isolated by collagenase and trypsinase digestion methods. PBS, EPO, Ang II in the absence or presence of LY294002, an inhibitor of PI3-K, or L-NAME, an inhibitor of NOS, were added to CFs and cultured for 24 hours. The concentration of collagen I and collagen III in culture medium were quantitated by ELISA. The levels of nitric oxide (NO) and the activities of NOS as well as NOS isoforms were measured by chemical enzymic method. Western blot was applied to detecting the protein expressions of Akt, p-Akt, eNOS, iNOS, and TGF-beta1.

RESULTSThe concentrations of collagen I and collagen III in CFs culture medium were significantly increased while the level of NO was significantly decreased by Ang II and these changes were significantly suppressed by EPO in a dose dependent manner. The effects of EPO on eNOS and NO could be blocked by LY294002. L-NAME could block EPO's effect on NO but not on the eNOS expression. The suppression effects on expressions of TGF-beta1 and collagen by Ang II in CFs were blocked by both LY294002 and L-NAME.

CONCLUSIONEPO suppresses the upregulated expressions of TGF-beta1 and increased production of collagen induced by Ang II through activating the PI3-K/Akt signaling pathway in neonatal rat CFs.

Angiotensin II ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Collagen ; metabolism ; Erythropoietin ; pharmacology ; Myoblasts, Cardiac ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Recombinant Proteins ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism

Aldosterone ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Cells, Cultured ; Endothelins ; metabolism ; Myoblasts, Cardiac ; drug effects ; secretion ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Phospholipase D (PLD) hydrolyzes phosphocholine into choline and phosphatide acid, and these metabolites play an important role in regulating cell physiology and biochemistry. To study the biological function of phospholipase D3 (PLD3) during the insulin stimulation in C2C12 myoblasts, we constructed PLD3 over-expressed cell lines (C2C12/pPLD3) and investigated the phosphorylation of Akt. The results showed that the level of phosphorylated Akt (P-Akt) was significantly increased in control C2C12 cells when insulin concentration was elevated during cell treatment, whereas the level of P-Akt in C2C12/pPLD3 cells was not changed. When extending the time of insulin treatment, P-Akt level in C2C12/pPLD3 cells was increased around 2 folds, but the total level of P-Akt in C2C12/pPLD3 was still lower than that in control group. 1-Butanol, a PLD inhibitor, could completely block Akt phosphorylation in C2C12 cells that even stimulated by insulin. However, 1-Butanol did not inhibit the Akt phosphorylation in C2C12/pPLD3 cells, but increased the phosphorylation up to 6 folds higher than control cells. The level of Akt phosphorylation in control C2C12 cells was increased significantly when stimulated by phosphatidic acid (PA), while there was no change in C2C12/pPLD3 cells with the similar treatment. When cells simulated by both PA and insulin, P-Akt level in both C2C12/pPLD3 cells and C2C12 cells were down regulated. Our observations indicated that PLD3 over expression may inhibit Akt phosphorylation and further block the transduction of insulin signaling in C2C12 cells.
Cell Line ; Humans ; Insulin ; pharmacology ; Myoblasts ; cytology ; metabolism ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; metabolism ; Phospholipase D ; biosynthesis ; Phosphorylation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; chemistry ; drug effects ; Signal Transduction

AIMTo investigate how vasonatrin peptide (VNP) can attenuate the growth-promoting effect of hypoxia in cardiac fibroblasts cultured from neonatal rats.

METHODSThe cultured cardiac fibroblasts were divided randomly into four groups: control group, hypoxia group, hypoxia + VNP group and hypoxia + 8-Bromo-cGMP group. The growth of cardiac myocytes was measured by the means of MTT method. The effect of VNP on the intracellular level of cGMP and PCNA were measured by the means of radioimmunoassay and immunohistochemistry stain respectively.

RESULTSHypoxia (24 h) significantly increased the MTT A490nm value of cardiac fibroblasts (P < 0.05 vs control group). Both VNP (10(-7) mol/L) and 8-Bromo-cGMP (10(-3) mol/L) decreased MTT A490 nm value in cardiac fibroblast (P < 0.05 vs hypoxia group). VNP (10(-7) mol/L) increased the intracellular level of cGMP (P < 0.05 vs control and hypoxia group). Hypoxia (24 h) significantly increased the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in cardiac myocytes (P < 0.05, vs control group), but VNP (10(-7) mol/L) decreased it.

CONCLUSIONVNP can attenuate hypoxia-induced growth-promoting effect in cardiac fibroblasts which is associated with the changes of cGMP and PCNA.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; pharmacology ; Cell Hypoxia ; Cells, Cultured ; Cyclic GMP ; metabolism ; Myoblasts, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo study the regulatory effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) on cell proliferation of skeletal myoblast strain L6 and its possible signal mechanism.

METHODSL6 cells cultured in DMEM high glucose culture medium containing 10% FBS were divided into control group (C, without addition), GLP-1 group (G, added with 10 nmol/L GLP-1), PI3K inhibitor group (W, added with 50 nmol/L PI3K specific inhibitor wortmannin), and GLP-1 + PI3K inhibitor group (GW, added with 10 nmol/L GLP-1 and 50 nmol/L wortmannin) according to the random number table. Cell proliferation activity was detected with MTT assay at post culture hour (PCH) 24, 48, 72 (denoted as absorbance value). At PCH 24, the change in cell cycle was evaluated with flow cytometer, the expression level of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was determined with immunohistochemical staining, the protein levels of phosphorylated PI3K (p-PI3K) and p-Akt were determined with Western blotting. Data were processed with multi-group analysis of variance.

RESULTS(1) The cell proliferation activity at PCH 48, 72 in G group was respectively 0.660 +/- 0.120, 0.870 +/- 0.240, all significantly higher than those in C group (0.530 +/- 0.060, 0.700 +/- 0.100, with F value respectively 5.46, 5.90, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The cell proliferation activity in W group at each time point was lower than that in C group. The cell proliferation activity in GW group at PCH 48, 72 was respectively 0.510 +/- 0.080, 0.740 +/- 0.160, all lower than those in G group (with F value respectively 5.46, 5.90, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). (2) The percentage of S phase cell in G group at PCH 24 [(15.7 +/- 0.4)%] was significantly higher than that in C group [(13.6 +/- 0.6)%] and GW group [(10.1 +/- 0.6)%], while that in W group [(6.8 +/- 1.2)%] was lower than that in C group (with F values all equal to 15.39, P values all below 0.01). (3) PCNA level in G group at PCH 24 [(51.24 +/- 1.18)%] was markedly higher than that in C group [(36.72 +/- 1.56)%] and GW group [(25.90 +/- 1.22)%], and while in W group [(21.70 +/- 0.09)%] was lower than that in C group (with F values equal to 783.80, P values all below 0.05). (4) The protein level of p-Akt in G group at PCH 24 was significantly higher than that in the other 3 groups, while that in W group was lower than that in C group (with F values equal to 94.43, P values all below 0.01). There was no obvious difference in protein level of p-PI3K at PCH 24 among G, GW, and C groups ( F = 20.94, P > 0.05). The protein level of p-PI3K at PCH 24 in W group was lower than that in C group (F = 20.94, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSGLP-1 can promote cell proliferation of skeletal myoblast by accelerating the progression of cell cycle and increasing the synthesis of DNA, which can be attributed to PI3K/Akt signal pathway.

Androstadienes ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; DNA ; biosynthesis ; Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 ; pharmacology ; Myoblasts, Skeletal ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

Recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) stimulates the proliferation and migration of epithelial cells in human cell culture systems and animal models of partial-thickness skin wounds. This study investigated the effect of a topical rhEGF ointment on the rate of wound healing and skin re-epithelialization in a rat full thickness wound model, and verified whether or not the rhEGF treatment affected both myofibroblast proliferation and collagen synthesis in the dermis. When rhEGF (10 microgram/g ointment) was applied topically twice a day for 14 days, there was significantly enhanced wound closure from the 5th to the 12th day compared with the control (ointment base treatment) group. A histological examination at the postoperative 7th day revealed that the rhEGF treatment increased the number of proliferating nuclear antigen immunoreactive cells in the epidermis layer. In addition, the immunoreactive area of alpha-smooth muscle actin and the expression of prolyl 4-hydroxylase were significantly higher than those of the control group. Overall, a topical treatment of rhEGF ointment promotes wound healing by increasing the rate of epidermal proliferation and accelerating the level of wound contraction related to myofibroblast proliferation and collagen deposition.
Actins/genetics/metabolism ; Administration, Topical ; Animals ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects ; Collagen/*biosynthesis ; Epidermal Growth Factor/*administration&dosage/*pharmacology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Male ; Myoblasts, Skeletal/*drug effects ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen/genetics/metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Wound Healing/*drug effects