Ursolic acid induced anti-proliferation effects in rat primary vascular smooth muscle cells is associated with inhibition of microRNA-21 and subsequent PTEN/PI3K

This study focused on the anti-proliferation effects of ursolic acid (UA) in rat primary vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and investigated underlying molecular mechanism of action. Rat primary VSMCs were pretreated with UA (10, 20 or 30 μM) or amino guanidine (AG, 50 μM) for 12 h or with PI3K inhibitor LY294002 for 30 min or with Akt inhibitor MK2206 for 24 h, then 10% fetal bovine serum was used to induce proliferation. CCK-8 was used to assess cell proliferation. To explore the mechanism, cells were treated with UA (10, 20 or 30 μM), LY294002 or MK2206, or transient transfected to inhibit miRNA-21 (miRNA-21) or to overexpress PTEN, then quantitative real-time PCR was used to assess the mRNA levels of miRNA-21 and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) for cells treated with UA or miRNA-21 inhibitor; western blotting was used to measure the protein levels of PTEN and PI3K. UA exerted significant anti-proliferation effects in rat primary VSMCs. Furthermore, UA inhibited the expression of miRNA-21 and subsequently enhanced the expression of PTEN. PTEN was found to inhibit the expression of PI3K. In conclusion, UA exerts anti-proliferation effects in rat primary VSMCs, which is associated with the inhibition of miRNA-21 expression and modulation of PTEN/PI3K signaling pathway.