title: Qufeng Tongluo Prescription () inhibits mesangial cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis through regulating cell cycle progression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effects and possible underlying mechanism of Qufeng Tongluo Prescription (, QFTL) on the regulation of mesangial cells (MCs) proliferation and apoptosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The MCs used in this experiment have undergone five passages induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Changes in the proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle regulatory proteins and mRNA expression levels of the MCs after administration of Benazepril or QFTL were measured by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) reduction assay, flow cytometry, Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The addition of Benazepril or QFTL serum inhibited LPS-induced MC proliferation after treatment for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Moreover, the inhibitory effect is more significant in the QFTL group at 48 h (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, LPS-induced cell proliferation decreased the number of cells in G1 phase versus cells in S and G2/M phases, while the addition of QFTL and Benazepril serum increased the ratio of cells at G1 phase (P<0.05 or P<0.01) to cells at S phase (P<0.01), implicating the cell cycle inhibition effect exerted by QFTL. LPS decreased the level of MC apoptosis, compared with the control group (P<0.05), while QFTL and Benazepril serum increased the level of MC apoptosis (P<0.01). Moreover, the difference between the QFTL group and the Benazepril group was statistically significant (P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the protein and mRNA expression levels of cylinD1, cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and p21 were significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01), p27 was decreased but with no statistical significance (P>0.05); After being treated with QFTL and Benazepril serum, the protein and mRNA expression levels of cylinD1, CDK2, p21 were decreased and p27 increased significantly (P<0.05 or P<0.01); Compared with the Benazepril group, QFTL show better effects on protein and mRNA expression levels of cylinD1, CDK2 (P<0.05 or P<0.01) and p21 protein expression (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  QFTL inhibits MCs proliferation, promotes MCs apoptosis through an underlying mechanism of down-regulating the protein and mRNA expression levels of cylinD1, CDK2, p21 and up-regulation of the expression level of p27.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710004, China, wuxili1984@163.com.
authors.forename: Xi-li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Bing-yu
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Xing-min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Wan-sen
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Rong-guo
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cheng-lin
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Qiao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D017931:DNA Primers; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005920:Glomerular Mesangium / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D012333:RNA, Messenger