Serelaxin blocked the CFs activation induced by LPS
Studies have shown that the differentiation of CFs into myofibroblasts
plays an important role in myocardial fibrosis. CFs were stained for the
expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a marker associated with
activated fibroblasts. Accordingly, we detected expression of α‐SMA. At
72 h after treatment with LPS, most of the cells expressed α-SMA
obviously. After treatment with serelaxin, the expression of α-SMA in
cells was significantly
reduced(Fig. 3). In addition,
immunofluorescence staining also revealed an increased cell size of CFs
stimulated with LPS compared with control, which was significantly
reduced by serelaxin. qRT-PCR showed that mRNA expression level of α-SMA
was increased by LPS induced, on the contrary serelaxin inhibits α-SMA
expression (Fig 4A). Western blot results showed that the expression
level of α-SMA was increased in LPS-treated cells, and significantly
reduced after treatment with serelaxin(Fig. 4B and C). Moreover, the
PPAR-γ inhibitor, GW9662, abated the inhibitive effect of serelaxin on
α-SMA production.