The Inhibitory Effect of Astragaloside Ⅳ on Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition of Human Peritoneal Mesothelial Cells by Regulating Akt Signaling

OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of Astragaloside Ⅳ (AS-Ⅳ) on EMT of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) HMrSV5， exploring the function of Akt signaling and regulatory mechanism of AS-Ⅳ. METHODS We used TGF-β1 to establish EMT model of HMrSV5. EMT marker proteins， β-catenin and Akt signaling-related proteins were detected by Western blotting analysis. β-catenin and EMT-related mRNA were expressed by Real-time PCR analysis. Compared with MK2206， Rapamycin and Insulin， the effect of AS-Ⅳ on EMT and β-catenin was observed by Western blotting. RESULTS ①The EMT model of HMrSV5 was established by TGF-β1. TGF-β1 increased β-catenin expression and activated Akt signaling. ②AS-Ⅳ could alleviate TGF-β1-treated EMT of HMrSV5， decrease β-catenin expression， as well as inhibit activation of Akt signaling. ③EMT of HMrSV5 and β-catenin were regulated by Akt signaling， MK2206 and Rapamycin had the similar effect with AS-Ⅳ. ④Insulin could reduce obviously inhibitory effect on EMT and β-catenin of AS-Ⅳ. CONCLUSION TGF-β1 can induce EMT of HMrSV5 and upregulate β-catenin， AS-Ⅳ has inhibitory effect on EMT and β-catenin of HMrSV5 by regulating Akt signaling.