@article{MA2022, 
author = {Zhihua MA and Pilian NIU and Xingbo XU and Ziping ZHANG and Xuezhang ZHOU and Mingsheng BAI},
title = {Inhibitory Mechanism of Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide against Cardiac Fibroblast Activation Induced by TGF-β1},
year = {2022},
journal = {Food Science},
volume = {43},
number = {19},
pages = {144-150},
keywords = {Lycium barbarum polysaccharide, cardiac fibrosis, cardiac fibroblasts, TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway, transforming growth factor-β1},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.7506/spkx1002-6630-20210927-323},
doi = {10.7506/spkx1002-6630-20210927-323},
abstract = {Objective   To explore the ameliorative effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) on TGF-β1-induced cardiac fibrosis in cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). Methods   Mouse primary CFs were cultured and treated with 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 to induce fibrosis. After treatment with LBP, the morphology of cells was observed by microscopy. The expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was detected by immunofluorescence. Western blot was used to detect the expression and phosphorylation levels of proteins involved in the TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway. The mRNA expression levels of Snail, Twist and S100A4 were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results   Compared with the control group (spindle-like in shape), the morphology of TGF-β1-induced cells was longer and narrower, and the number of cells increased significantly. The relative expression level of α-SMA, and the expression and phosphorylation levels of proteins involved in the TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway increased, and the mRNA expression of Snail, Twist and S100A4 was significantly elevated (P  < 0.01). After treatment with LBP, the proliferation of CFs induced by TGF-β1 was significantly inhibited (P  < 0.001), the expression of α-SMA and proteins involved in the TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway in CFs decreased, and the mRNA expression of Snail, Twist and S100A4 was down-regulated (P  < 0.001). Conclusion   Lycium barbarum polysaccharide can ameliorate TGF-β1-induced cardiac fibrosis, in CFs and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of the TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway.}
}