Endostatin attenuates PDGF-BB- or TGF-β1-induced HSCs activation via suppressing RhoA/ROCK1 signal pathways

• Main Authors: Ren H, Li Y, Chen Y, Wang L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2019-01-01
• Series: Drug Design, Development and Therapy
• Subjects: Endostatin; Liver fibrogenesis; Hepatic stellate cell (HSC); Signal pathway
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/endostatin-attenuates-pdgf-bb--or-tgf-beta1-induced-hscs-activation-vi-peer-reviewed-article-DDDT

Haitao Ren,1 Yuan Li,2 Yan Chen,3 Liang Wang4 1Department of Burns and Wound Care Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310009, P.R. China; 2Department of Ultrasound, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, P.R. China; 3Emergency Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, P.R. China; 4Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310009, P.R. China Aim: To testify the hypothesis that endostatin exerts antifibrotic effects in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) by modulating RhoA (ras homolog gene family, member A)/ROCK 1 (Rho-associated protein kinase 1) signal pathways.Materials and methods: HSCs-T6 of passages 3–5 were cultured in DMEM and serum starved for 48 hours. HSCs were grouped as follows: control group, TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor β1) group, endostatin+TGF-β1 group, PDGF-BB (platelet-derived growth factor-BB) group, and endostatin+PDGF-BB group. In the PDGF-BB group, HSCs were treated with PDGF-BB (200 ng/mL) for 72 hours; in the TGF-β1 group, they were treated with TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL) for 72 hours. In the Endostatin+TGF-β1 group or Endostatin+PDGF-BB group, HSCs were treated with TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL) or PDGF-BB (200 ng/mL) for 72 hours after pretreatment with endostatin (5 µg/mL) for 1 hour. In the control group, HSCs were only treated with serum-free DMEM for 72 hours. Collagen I was analyzed with ELISA. F-actin was detected with immunofluorescent staining. The mRNAs and proteins of α-smooth muscle actin, RhoA, and ROCK1 were analyzed by using real-time PCR and Western blot, respectively.Results: TGF-β1 and PDGF-BB promote the proliferation of HSCs significantly at 48 and 72 hours. Endostatin inhibits the proliferation effect induced by TGF-β1 or PDGF-BB significantly (P<0.01). The expression of collagen I and F-actin was significantly upregulated in both TGF-β1 and PDGF-BB groups than in the control group (P<0.01). Both the collagen I and F-actin expression were downregulated significantly in the endostatin-treated groups (P<0.05). Endostatin significantly inhibited the upregulated expression of α-smooth muscle actin, RhoA, and ROCK1 induced by TGF-β1 or PDGF-BB (P<0.01).Conclusion: These results suggested that endostatin inhibited TGF-β1- or PDGF-BB-induced fibrosis in HSCs by modulating RhoA/ROCK signal pathways.Keywords: endostatin, liver fibrogenesis, hepatic stellate cell, signal pathways, fibrosis