Effect of transforming growth factor beta and bone morphogenetic proteins on rat hepatic stellate cell proliferation and transdifferentiation

AIM: To explore different roles of TGF-β (transforming growth factor beta) and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs)in hepatic stellate cell proliferation and trans-differentiation.METHODS: Hepatic stellate cells were isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats. Sub-cultured hepatic stellate cells were employed for cell proliferation assay with WST-1 reagent and Western blot analysis with antibody against smooth muscle alpha actin (SMA).RESULTS: The results indicated that TGF-β1 significantly inhibited cell proliferation at concentration as low as 0.1 ng/ml, but both BMP-2 and BMP-4 did not affect cell proliferation at concentration as high as 10 ng/ml. The effect on hepatic stellate cell trans-differentiation was similar between TGFβ1 and BMPs. However, BMPs was more potent at transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells than TGF-β1. In addition, we observed that TGF-β1 transient reduced the abundance of SMA in hepatic stellate cells.CONCLUSION: TGF-β may be more important in regulation of hepatic stellate cell proliferation while BMPs may be the major cytokines regulating hepatic stellate cell transdifferentiation.