Protective effects of epigallocatechin-3-o-gallate combined with organic selenium against transforming growth factor-beta 1-induced fibrosis in LX-2 cells
Lin Zhang
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Visualization, Writing - original draft
Search for more papers by this authorJia-Ying Xu
State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision
Search for more papers by this authorLinxi Yuan
Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Investigation, Resources, Validation
Search for more papers by this authorXue-Bin Yin
Key Laboratory for Functional Agriculture, Suzhou Research Institute, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Resources, Validation
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Yun-Hong Li
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Correspondence
Yun-Hong Li and Li-Qiang Qin, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
Email: [email protected] (Y. H. L) and [email protected] (L. Q. Q.)
Contribution: Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Li-Qiang Qin
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Correspondence
Yun-Hong Li and Li-Qiang Qin, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
Email: [email protected] (Y. H. L) and [email protected] (L. Q. Q.)
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorLin Zhang
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Visualization, Writing - original draft
Search for more papers by this authorJia-Ying Xu
State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision
Search for more papers by this authorLinxi Yuan
Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Investigation, Resources, Validation
Search for more papers by this authorXue-Bin Yin
Key Laboratory for Functional Agriculture, Suzhou Research Institute, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou, China
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Resources, Validation
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Yun-Hong Li
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Correspondence
Yun-Hong Li and Li-Qiang Qin, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
Email: [email protected] (Y. H. L) and [email protected] (L. Q. Q.)
Contribution: Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Li-Qiang Qin
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Correspondence
Yun-Hong Li and Li-Qiang Qin, Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China.
Email: [email protected] (Y. H. L) and [email protected] (L. Q. Q.)
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
In this study, we investigated the protective effects and possible mechanism of epigallocatechin-3-o-gallate (EGCG) combined with organic selenium in transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-activated LX-2 cells. After 12 h of starvation, LX-2 cells were treated with 10 ng/ml of recombinant TGF-β1 and different concentrations of EGCG, L-selenomethionine (L-SeMet), or L-selenomethylcysteine (L-SeMC) for 24 h. We found that 100 and 200 μM EGCG combined with 1 mM L-SeMet or L-SeMC showed a synergistic effect in decreasing the survival rate of activated LX-2 cells. In addition, the combination of 100 mM EGCG and 1 mM L-SeMet or L-SeMC promoted the apoptosis of activated LX-2 cells. Compared with the EGCG treatment group, the combination intervention group had significantly suppressed levels of hepatic stellate cell activation markers including alpha-smooth muscle actin, collagen type I alpha 1, collagen type III alpha 1, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HT), and 5-HT receptors 2A and 2B. Moreover, interleukin-10 levels were decreased, while TGF-β1 levels were increased after TGF-β1 activation in LX-2 culture medium, whereas the combin1ation intervention reversed this phenomenon. The combination treatment had a more pronounced effect than any single treatment at the same dose. These results demonstrated that the combination of EGCG and organic selenium synergistically improves the TGF-β1-induced fibrosis of LX-2 cells to some extent by promoting apoptosis and inhibiting cell activation.
Practical applications
Here, we found that the effects of epigallocatechin-3-o-gallate (EGCG) + L-selenomethionine or L-selenomethylcysteine were more pronounced than those of EGCG alone. Future studies should investigate the protective effects of green tea and selenium-enriched green tea against hepatic fibrosis and explore the differences in their molecular mechanisms. The results of this study will be helpful for the development and utilization of selenium-enriched tea for food processing and health supplement production.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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