Psoralen alleviates high glucose-induced HK-2 cell injury by inhibition of Smad 2 signaling via upregulation of microRNA 874.
Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) causes the vast proportion of excess mortality for patients with diabetes. Novel therapeutic approaches slowing down its incidence is still lacking. Psoralen is the major active ingredient of Psoralea corylifolia Linn. (PCL), which was used to treat a number of diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether psoralen could alleviate DN using in vitro model. Cell viability assay and immunofluorescence were used to evaluate the effect of psoralen on high glucose (HG)-stimulated human kidney HK-2 cells (48 h). RT-qPCR was used to detect the expressions of miRNA in cells. Cell transfection, apoptosis assay, inflammatory cytokines detection and Western blot were further performed to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. HG-induced toxicity of HK-2 cells was alleviated by psoralen. Meanwhile, the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation induced by HG in HK-2 cells were also decreased by psoralen. In addition, the expression of miR-874 in HK-2 cells was significantly upregulated by psoralen. Western blot assays indicated that psoralen could reverse HG-induced increase of TLR-4/NF-κB and Smad2 via upregulation of miR-874. This study demonstrated that psora...Continue Reading
References
MicroRNA‑379‑5p suppresses renal fibrosis by regulating the LIN28/let‑7 axis in diabetic nephropathy
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Apoptosis
Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis