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Chymase induces profibrotic response via transforming growth factor-β1/Smad activation in rat cardiac fibroblasts

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Abstract

Mast cell-derived chymase is implicated in myocardial fibrosis (MF), but the underlying mechanism of intracellular signaling remains unclear. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is identified as the most important profibrotic cytokine, and Smad proteins are essential, but not exclusive downstream components of TGF-β1 signaling. Moreover, novel evidence indicates that there is a cross talk between Smad and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascade. We investigated whether chymase activated TGF-β1/Smad pathway and its potential role in MF by evaluating cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) proliferation and collagen synthesis in neonatal rats. MTT assay and 3H-Proline incorporation revealed that chymase induced CFs proliferation and collagen synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. RT-PCR and Western blot assay demonstrated that chymase not only increased TGF-β1 expression but also upregulated phosphorylated-Smad2/3 protein. Furthermore, pretreatment with TGF-β1 neutralizing antibody suppressed chymase-induced cell growth, collagen production, and Smad activation. In contrast, the blockade of angiotensin II receptor had no effects on chymase-induced production of TGF-β1 and profibrotic action. Additionally, the inhibition of MAPK signaling had no effect on Smad activation elicited by chymase. These results suggest that chymase can promote CFs proliferation and collagen synthesis via TGF-β1/Smad pathway rather than angiotensin II, which is implicated in the process of MF.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Fa-Gen Lv, Hui Liu and Shao-Wei Liu for their kindly technical assistance and helpful suggestions. We also thank Li-Juan Li and Shu-Qing Ding for their careful proofreading on grammatical English of the manuscript. Especially, we are very indebted to Dr. Dhalla and reviewers for their comments on our article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Key Laboratory of Hypertension, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No. 1, Xinsi Street, Baqiao District, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710038, P.R. China

    Xiao-Yan Zhao, Lian-You Zhao, Qiang-Sun Zheng, Fu-Jun Shang, Xiao-Lin Niu, Yan-Ping He & Xiao-Long Lu

  2. Department of Cardiology, Fifth Hospital of PLA, Yinchuan, Ningxia, 750004, P.R. China

    Xiao-Yan Zhao

  3. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Ningxia Medical College, Yinchuan, Ningxia, 750004, P.R. China

    Jin-Lin Su

  4. Department of Burns, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710032, P.R. China

    Hao Guan

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  1. Xiao-Yan Zhao
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Correspondence to Lian-You Zhao.

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Zhao, XY., Zhao, LY., Zheng, QS. et al. Chymase induces profibrotic response via transforming growth factor-β1/Smad activation in rat cardiac fibroblasts. Mol Cell Biochem 310, 159–166 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-007-9676-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-007-9676-2

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