[Effects of Qufengtongluo Recipe on expressions of cell cycle regulatory proteins in rat mesangial cells].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Qufengtongluo Recipe (QFTLR) on the expressions of cell cycle regulatory proteins in rat mesangial cells (MCs) in vitro and investigate the mechanism by which QFTLR inhibits MC proliferation. METHODS: Using the methods of serum pharmacology, we studied the expressions of cell cycle regulatory proteins in rat MCs treated with QFTLR by laser scanning confocal microscope and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with the normal control cells, the cells challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) showed significantly enhanced expressions of cyclin D1, CDK2, and P21 (P<0.01) and obviously lowered protein expression of P27 (P<0.01). Treatment of the LPS-challenged cells with QFTLR and benazepril both resulted in significantly attenuated expressions of cyclin D1, CDK2, and P21 and obvious increase of P27 expression (P<0.05 or P<0.01), but QFTLR produced stronger effects than benazepril in regulating of cyclinD1, P21 and P27 protein expressions (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION: QFTLR inhibits rat MC proliferation in vitro possibly by down-regulating the cellular expressions of cyclin D1, CDK2, and P21 and up-regulating the expression of P27 protein.