Inhibitory Effect of β-Sitosterol on the Ang II-Induced Proliferation of A7r5 Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells

Figure 5

β-Sitosterol inhibited Ang II-induced A7r5 cell proliferation via downregulation of autophagy. (a) A7r5 cells were transfected with Ad-mCherry-GFP-LC3 and observed under a fluorescence microscope (400x), scale bar = 50 μm. (b) The number of dots per cell was analyzed. (c) Protein expression of P62, LC3 and PCNA was determined using western blotting. (d) Gray value analysis histogram of PCNA and P62 protein development. (e) The LC3-II/I ratio in A7r5 cells was analyzed. (f) A7r5 cell proliferation was detected using CCK-8 assay. Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 5, n: number of the sample). Significant differences in different groups compared with the control group (without treatment with Ang II or β-sitosterol) are expressed as , , and . Significant differences in different groups compared with the Ang II-alone treatment group are expressed as ^#, ^###, and ^###. Significant differences in the rapamycin + Ang II + β-sitosterol combined treated group compared with the Ang II + β-sitosterol treatment group are expressed as ^▲, ^▲▲▲, and ^▲▲▲.

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