Didang Decoction-medicated serum enhances autophagy in high glucose-induced rat glomerular endothelial cells via the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway
DONG Yanyan
ZHANG Kejing
CHU Jun
CHU Quangen
Abstract：Objective To investigate the effect of Didang Decoction-medicated serum on autophagy in high glucose(HG)-induced rat glomerular endothelial cells(RGECs)and explore the pathway that mediates its effect.Methods Primary RGECs were isolated and cultured using sequential sieving combined with collagenase digestion,followed by identification using immunofluorescence assay for factor Ⅷ.High glucose medium was used to induce RGECs to simulate a diabetic environment,and the effects of Didang Decoction-medicated serum and 3-MA(an autophagy inhibitor),either alone or in combination,on autophagy of HG-exposed cells were evaluated by observing autophagic vacuoles using monodansylcadaverine(MDC)staining.RT-qPCR and Western blotting were employed to measure mRNA and protein expression levels of Beclin-1,p62,LC3B,p-PI3K,p-Akt,and p-mTOR.Results Compared with the control cells,the HG-exposed RGECs showed significantly reduced autophagic fluorescence intensity,decreased Beclin-1 mRNA expression,increased p62 mRNA expression,downregulated Beclin-1 protein and LC3-Ⅱ/Ⅰ ratio,and upregulated p62,p-PI3K,p-Akt,and p-mTOR protein levels.Didang Decoction-medicated serum significantly enhanced autophagic fluorescence intensity in HG-exposed cells,increased Beclin-1 mRNA expression,decreased p62 mRNA expression,upregulated Beclin-1 protein,and downregulated p62,p-PI3K,p-Akt,and p-mTOR protein levels.Conclusion Didang Decoction-medicated serum enhances autophagy in HG-exposed RGECs by regulating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway,which sheds light on a new therapeutic strategy for diabetic nephropathy.
Keywords：diabetic nephropathyDidang decoctionautophagyPI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathwayglomerular endothelial cells
Publication Date：2025-03-20
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：9( 461-469 )