The genome-wide expression profile of Paeonia suffruticosa-treated cisplatin-stimulated HEK 293 cells

The root cortex of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews (PS) is a crude Chinese drug used in many traditional prescriptions. This study was conducted to evaluate the recovery mechanisms induced by PS in HEK 293 cells treated with cisplatin. Previous studies revealed that 1 μg/ml PS treatment showed greater than 20% recovery of 14 μM cisplatin-induced 50% loss of cell proliferation (IC50) determined by mitochondrial activity MTS assay in HEK 293 cells (Sohn et al., 2009). In the present study, the effects of PS on gene expression profiles in stimulated HEK 293 cells were evaluated by oligonucleotide microarray and real-time RT-PCR. The results of the microarray analysis and real-time RT-PCR revealed that DNA repair- and cell proliferation-related genes were up-regulated in PS-treated HEK 293 cells. The mechanism responsible for the effects of PS on HEK 293 cells is closely associated with the regulation of DNA repair and cell proliferation. Thus, PS possesses novel therapeutic potential that could be used for the prevention or treatment of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.