ABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese medicine is one of the oldest medical systems in the world and has its unique principles and theories in the prevention and treatment of human diseases, which are achieved through the interactions of different types of materia medica in the form of Chinese medicinal formulations. GZZSZTW, a classical and effective Chinese medicinal formulation, was designed and created by professor Bailing Liu who is the only national medical master professor in the clinical research field of traditional Chinese medicine and skeletal diseases. GZZSZTW has been widely used in clinical settings for several decades for the treatment of joint diseases. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still largely unknown. In the present study, we performed quantitative proteomic analysis to investigate the effects of GZZSZTW on mouse primary chondrocytes using state-of-the-art iTRAQ technology. We demonstrated that the Chinese medicinal formulation GZZSZTW modulates chondrocyte structure, dynamics, and metabolism by controlling multiple functional proteins that are involved in the cellular processes of DNA replication and transcription, protein synthesis and degradation, cytoskeleton dynamics, and signal transduction. Thus, this study has expanded the current knowledge of the molecular mechanism of GZZSZTW treatment on chondrocytes. It has also shed new light on possible strategies to further prevent and treat cartilage-related diseases using traditional Chinese medicinal formulations.
Subject(s)
Biological Products/pharmacology , Chondrocytes/drug effects , Chondrocytes/metabolism , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Proteins/metabolism , Animals , DNA Replication/drug effects , Materia Medica/pharmacology , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Proteomics/methods , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Transcription, Genetic/drug effectsABSTRACT
In order to investigate the effects of extract of Dilong (Pheretima) on the skin viability and lipid peroxidation after deep degree II scalds, the extract of Dilong (Pheretima) at two concentrations (5%, 10%) were respectively applied to the surface of wound. The oxygen consumption, the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity, the Schiff's base content, and the healing time of wound surface were determined in Wistar rats at the 8th, 24th, 48th and 72th hour after scalds, with SD-Ag used as controls. The results indicated that the oxygen consumption and SDH activity decreased, and the schiff's base content increased after the scalds. After the application of the extract of Dilong, the oxygen consumption and SDH activity increased, and the schiff's base content decreased significantly as compared with the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and the mean healing time of the wound surface was five days in advance in the two treatment groups as compared with the control group. It is suggested that the scalds are related with lipid peroxdation to a certain extent, and the extract of Dilong has actions of attenuating lipid peroxidation, and promoting healing of the wound.
Subject(s)
Burns/drug therapy , Materia Medica/therapeutic use , Oligochaeta/chemistry , Wound Healing/drug effects , Animals , Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects , Male , Oxygen Consumption/drug effects , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Succinate Dehydrogenase/metabolismABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the medicinal serum of Yi-shen Ruan-jian san can antagonize the fibrogenic effect of human proximal tubular epithelial cell line (HKC) activated by aristolochic acid (AA) in vitro. METHOD: The HKC was incubated in the media containing 40 mg x L(-1) aristolochic acid sodium salt (AA-Na) with or without 10% concentration of Yi-shen Ruan-jian san medicinal serum. Then the cell proliferation and cytotoxicity of HKC were determined by MTF and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay respectively, the antigen expression of cytokeratin and alpha-smooth muscle actin on HKC was detected by immunocytochemistry, the mRNA expression of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) and type I Collagen (Col I) of HKC was measured by RT-PCR, and their protein expression was measured by ELISA or Western blot. RESULT: No cytotoxic effect was found in HKC after stimulation of AA-Na with or without the medicinal serum of Yi-shen Ruan-jian san (P > 0.05). No epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation was found in HKC after AA-Na stimulation. The mRNA and protein expression of TGF-beta1, CTGF, PAI-1 and TIMP-1 of HKC was significantly upregulated by AA-Na (P < 0.05). The above-mentioned enhanced mRNA and protein expression, except for PAI-1, was significantly downregulated by the medicinal serum of Yi-shen Ruan-jian san, compared with the control (normal rat serum in the same concentration) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The fibrogenic effects of HKC activated by AA are antagonized by Yi-shen Ruan-jian san, through downregulating the expression of promoting excellular matrix (ECM) synthesis factors (TGF-beta1, CTGF) and inhibiting ECM degradation factor (TIMP-1).