The mechanism of anti-proliferative scar of psoralen

Objective To investigate the mechanism of anti-proliferative scar of psoralen. Methods Fibroblasts were cultured in vitro. The fibroblasts were divided into normal group (normal fibroblasts), scar group (hypertrophic scar fibroblasts), and TGF-β1 group (10 ng/ml TGF-β1 treated hypertrophic scar fibrils cells 5 min-12 hours), Smurf2 RNA interference group (Smurf2 siRNA transfected hypertrophic scar fibroblasts for 72 hours), psoralen group (10 μmol/L psoralen treatment of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts for 72 hours). The psoralen+TGF-β1 group (proliferative scar fibroblasts were added to the psoralen for 72 hours and then added to TGF-β1 for 6 hours). The expressions of Smurf2 and α-SMA protein were detected by Western blot method. The expression of type I collagen mRNA was detected by RT-PCR. The secretion of TGF-β1 protein was detected by ELISA. Results Compared with the normal group, the expression of Smurf2 protein (0.83 ± 0.08 vs. 0.38 ± 0.07) in the scar group significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the scar group, the expression of TGF-β1 (2.2 ± 0.18 vs. 4.2 ± 0.47) significantly decreased in Smurf2 RNA interference group (P<0.05). The expression of Smurf2 (0.71 ± 0.06 vs. 0.42 ± 0.04) and α-SMA (1.42 ± 0.12 vs. 0.91 ± 0.09) proteinin the TGF-β1 group significantly increased (P<0.05), and the expression of type I collagen mRNA (0.72 ± 0.09 vs. 0.41 ± 0.07) significantly increased (P<0.05). The expression of Smurf2 (0.05 ± 0.01 vs. 0.42 ± 0.04) and α-SMA (0.71 ± 0.07 vs. 0.91 ± 0.09) proteinin in psoralen group significantly decreased (P<0.05). The expression of collagen mRNA (0.12 ± 0.04 vs. 0.41 ± 0.07) significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusions Psoralen may inhibit the expression of α-SMA protein and decrease the expression of type I collagen by TGF-β1/Smurf2 signaling to inhibit scar formation. Key words: Psoralen; Cicatrix; Transforming growth factor beta1; CollagenⅠ; Fibroblasts