title: Traditional Chinese medicine baicalin suppresses mESCs proliferation through inhibition of miR-294 expression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCMs) have been widely used against a broad spectrum of biological activities, including influencing the cardiac differentiation from mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). However, their effects and mechanisms of action on ESCs proliferation remain to be determined. The present study aimed to determine the effect of three TCMs, baicalin, ginsenoside Rg1, and puerarin, on mESCs proliferation and to elucidate the possible mechanism of their action.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cell proliferation was examined with a cell proliferation assay Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), propidium iodide (PI) staining was used to visualize cell cycle. The mRNA expression level of c-myc, c-fos, c-jun, GAPDH and microRNAs were measured by quantitative real time RT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that baicalin 50 μM suppressed the proliferation of mESCs as observations in more cells in G1 phase and less cells in either S phase or G2/M phase. Moreover, baicalin suppressed the expressions of c-jun and c-fos in mESCs and down-regulated the expression of miR-294. Overexpression of miR-294 in mESCs significantly reversed the effects of baicalin both on mESC proliferation and c-fos/c-jun expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Baicalin down-regulation of miR-294 may be its key mechanism of action in decreasing mESCs proliferation.
authors: Department of Physiology, Chinese-German Stem Cell Center, the Key Laboratory of Drug Target Research and Pharmacodynamic Evaluation, Hubei Province; School of Basic Medicine, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Jacob
authors: J
authors: Masika
authors: Jianxia
authors: J
authors: Zhou
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Minjie
authors: M
authors: Zhu
authors: Hongyan
authors: H
authors: Luo
authors: Xinwu
authors: X
authors: Hu
authors: Liangpin
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Tang
authors: Linlin
authors: L
authors: Gao
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Hescheler
authors: Huamin
authors: H
authors: Liang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059585:G1 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; C556303:MIRN294 microRNA, mouse; D035683:MicroRNAs; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; C038044:baicalin