Research Article

Curcumin Inhibits Joint Contracture through PTEN Demethylation and Targeting PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway in Myofibroblasts from Human Joint Capsule

Figure 4

Methylation inhibits PTEN gene expression, and curcumin can demethylate PTEN. (a) Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction assay revealed no methylated bands in the control group. Methylated bands were detected in the transforming growth factor-β-induced contracture group, while in the curcumin group, the methylated bands were detected to a lesser degree. (b, c) Western blot analysis showed that both the 5-azacytidine group and the curcumin group exhibited raised PTEN expression levels in myofibroblasts, compared with the contracture and DMSO groups. relative to the contracture group. PTEN, phosphatase and tension homolog.
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