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Lycium barbarum polysaccharide protects against Homocysteine-induced Vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and phenotypic transformation via PI3K/Akt pathway

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Abstract

Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) is an alkaloid extracted from lycium barbarum. LBP is the active component of lycium barbarum used to treat hypertension, atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases in Chinese traditional medicine. However, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of LBP- mediated activity in vascular disease remain poorly understood. In the present study, we showed the protective effect of LBP in vascular smooth muscle cells. Our results indicate that LBP significantly reduces the proliferation of VSMCs caused by Homocysteine (Hcy) and inhibits the phenotypic transformation of VSMCs caused by Hcy, from contractile to synthetic. LBP inhibited the protein expression of PI3K and Akt caused by Hcy, and increased the expression of miR-145. The results indicate that LBP exhibits substantial therapeutic potential for the treatment of Hcy-induced VSMCs proliferation and phenotypic transformation through inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

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The analyzed date sets generated during the present study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Xi'an Jiaotong University, Ningxia Medical University and the fund Ningxia Natural Science Foundation (2019AAC03081) and Ningxia High School first-class Disciplines (West China first-class Disciplines Basic Medical Sciences at Ningxia Medical University NXYLXK2017B07) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81770459 and 81970369). Autonomous Region Department of Education 2018 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students in the Region (NXCX2018-116).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, China

    Minghao Zhang & Rong Lin

  2. School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, China

    Minghao Zhang, Fan Li, Ting Ma & Xiuyu Wang

  3. Key Laboratory of Metabolic Cardiovascular Diseases Research of National Health Commission, Ningxia Key Laboratory of Vascular Injury and Repair Research, Yinchuan, China

    Minghao Zhang, Fan Li, Ting Ma & Xiuyu Wang

  4. Sanqun Medical College, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, 453003, China

    Fan Li

  5. Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, USA

    Smritee Pokharel

  6. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, China

    Yiyong Wang

  7. Department of Medical Laboratory Animal Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, China

    Weirong Wang

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  1. Minghao Zhang
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  2. Fan Li
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  3. Smritee Pokharel
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  4. Ting Ma
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  8. Rong Lin
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Contributions

ZMH and LR designed the experiments. ZMH, LF, WXY, MT, WYY and WWR performed the experiments and analyzed the date. ZMH and LF wrote the manuscript. Smritee Pokharel has modified the language expression of the article. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rong Lin.

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All studies were completed with the approval of the ethics review committee.

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Zhang, M., Li, F., Pokharel, S. et al. Lycium barbarum polysaccharide protects against Homocysteine-induced Vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and phenotypic transformation via PI3K/Akt pathway. J Mol Hist 51, 629–637 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10735-020-09909-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10735-020-09909-1

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