Effects of Astragaloside IV Against the TGF-β1-Induced Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Peritoneal Mesothelial Cells by Promoting Smad 7 Expression.

Background/aims: To investigate the effect of Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) on the regulation of the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway in peritoneal mesothelial cells with an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Methods: EMT of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HMrSV5) was induced using 2 ng/ml TGF-β1. Cells were randomly divided into a vehicle group, a vehicle group with AS-IV, a TGF-β1 treated group, and a TGF-β1 treated group receiving varied doses of AS-IV or NAC. Real-time quantitative PCR and western blot were used to detect the expression of genes and proteins associated with the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway and EMT. DCFH-DA was used to detect the generation of ROS in HMrSV5 cells, and a transwell migration assay was used to verify the capacity of AS-IV to inhibit EMT in HMrSV5 cells. Lentiviruses were used as carriers for the overexpression or knockdown of the Smad7 gene.

Results: Expression levels of E-cadherin (epithelial marker) was decreased and vimentin, α-SMA (EMT markers) and collagen I (extracellular matrix protein) phospho-Smad2/3, Snail1 and Snail2 was increased significantly in the TGF-β1-treated HMrSV5 cells. AS-IV was associated with downregulated expression of vimentin and phospho-Smad2/3 in a dose-dependent manner, while the expression of Smad7 increased. Silenced or forced expression of Smad7 verified its role in the inhibitory effect of AS-IV on TGF-β1-induced EMT in HMrSV5 cells.

Conclusion: AS-IV effectively promotes the upregulation of Smad7 in the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway during the EMT of HMrSV5 cells, indicating its potential therapeutic effect for the control of PF.