Serelaxin blocked the CFs activation induced by LPS
Studies have shown that the differentiation of CFs into myofibroblasts plays an important role in myocardial fibrosis. CFs were stained for the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a marker associated with activated fibroblasts. Accordingly, we detected expression of α‐SMA. At 72 h after treatment with LPS, most of the cells expressed α-SMA obviously. After treatment with serelaxin, the expression of α-SMA in cells was significantly reduced(Fig. 3). In addition, immunofluorescence staining also revealed an increased cell size of CFs stimulated with LPS compared with control, which was significantly reduced by serelaxin. qRT-PCR showed that mRNA expression level of α-SMA was increased by LPS induced, on the contrary serelaxin inhibits α-SMA expression (Fig 4A). Western blot results showed that the expression level of α-SMA was increased in LPS-treated cells, and significantly reduced after treatment with serelaxin(Fig. 4B and C). Moreover, the PPAR-γ inhibitor, GW9662, abated the inhibitive effect of serelaxin on α-SMA production.