Publications by authors named "Qing-Chun Hou"

This study aimed to investigate the effects of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) on the calcification of human arterial smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) and to explore whether AGEs can promote the calcification of HASMCs by activating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT-glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3-β) axis. Cultured HASMCs were divided into five groups: blank control group, dimethyl sulfoxide (vehicle) group, AGEs group, LY294002 (AKT inhibitor) group, and TWS119 (GSK3-β inhibitor) group. Cells were pretreated with either vehicle, LY294002, or TWS119 for 2 hours followed by incubation with AGEs (25 μg/mL) for 5 days, and the expression levels of proteins in each group were analyzed by western blotting.

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