目的:探讨结缔组织生长因子(CTGF)促进转化生长因子-β1(TGF-β1)诱导活化的肌纤维母细胞增殖作用及其分子机制。方法:用TGF-β1预处理人胚肺成纤维细胞(HELF)48h,使细胞转化为肌纤维母细胞,然后将预处理后的细胞分为对照组,CTGF刺激组,和PD98059干预组。以Western免疫印迹法检测α-SMA水平,并通过MTT法检测CTGF对转化生长因子-β1(TGF-β1)诱导活化的肌纤维母细胞增殖作用。结果:CTGF刺激组α-SMA蛋白表达明显高于对照组(P〈0.01);用PD98059阻断ERK-1/2磷酸化可以明显抑制CTGF引起的α-SMA蛋白表达(P〈0.05);CTGF刺激组细胞增殖明显与对照组相比(P〈0.01);用PD98059阻断ERK-1/2磷酸化可以明显抑制CTGF引起的细胞增殖(P〈0.05)。进一步实验显示CTGF刺激细胞15min时能明显诱导TGF-β1预处理细胞内Erk-1/2磷酸化(P〈0.01),30min是达到高峰,60min时下降到基础水平。结论:CTGF通过ERK1/2信号通路促进TGF-β1诱导的肌纤维母细胞增殖。
Objective:To investigate the effects and mechanism by which connective tissue growth factor promotes the proliferation of myofibroblast activated by TGF-β1.Methods:Human embryonic lung fibroblast(HELF) cells were pretreated by TGF-β1 for 48hours so that the cells transform into myofibroblasts,and then the cells were divided into control group,CTGF treated group,and PD98059 intervene group.The protein level of α-SMA was determined by Western blot analysis.The method of MTT was adopted to detect the effect of myofibroblasts proliferation.Results:The protein expression level of α-smooth muscle actin of CTGF treated group was significantly higher than that of control group(P0.01);the inhibitor of ERK-1/2 phosphorylation PD98059 significantly suppressed expression of α-SMA protein induced by CTGF(P0.05);the myofibroblasts of CTGF treated group propagate significantly(P0.01);the inhibitor of ERK-1/2 phosphorylation PD98059 significantly suppressed the proliferation induced by CTGF(P0.05).Significant phosphorylation of ERK-1 /2 was detected after incubation with CTGF for 15min in the cells pretreated by TGF-β1(P0.01),reach to the peak for 30min,decrease to basal level for 60 min.Conclusion:CTGF induces a proliferative response in TGF-β1-initiated myofibroblasts,and this action is likely dependent on the activation of ERK-1/2 signaling pathway.