Brief Article
Copyright ©2010 Baishideng. All rights reserved
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 21, 2010; 16(15): 1916-1923
Published online Apr 21, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i15.1916
Natural taurine promotes apoptosis of human hepatic stellate cells in proteomics analysis
Xin Deng, Jian Liang, Zhi-Xiu Lin, Fa-Sheng Wu, Ya-Ping Zhang, Zhi-Wei Zhang
Xin Deng, Jian Liang, Fa-Sheng Wu, Ya-Ping Zhang, Zhi-Wei Zhang, The Affiliated Ruikang Hospital of Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Zhi-Xiu Lin, School of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
Author contributions: Liang J and Deng X designed and performed the research; Wu FS, Zhang YP and Zhang ZW collected and analyzed the data; Lin ZX wrote and revised the paper.
Supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30660235 and Guangxi Natural Science Foundation, No. 0728080
Correspondence to: Jian Liang, Professor, The Affiliated Ruikang Hospital of Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. dx8848@126.com
Telephone: +86-771-2238022 Fax: +86-771-2238869
Received: December 29, 2009
Revised: February 1, 2010
Accepted: February 8, 2010
Published online: April 21, 2010
Abstract

AIM: To study the differential expression of proteins between natural taurine treated hepatic stellate cells and controls, and investigate the underlying regulatory mechanism of natural taurine in inhibiting hepatic fibrosis.

METHODS: A proteomic strategy combining two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was used to study the differential expression of proteins and Western blotting was used to validate the results. Gene ontology (GO) method was utilized to analyze the functional enrichment of differentially expressed proteins. Flow cytometry was performed to compare the apoptosis rate between taurine-treated and untreated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).

RESULTS: Nineteen differentially expressed proteins (11 up-regulated and 8 down-regulated) were identified by 2D/MS, and the expression profiles of GLO1 and ANXA1 were validated by Western blotting. GO analysis found that these differentially expressed proteins were enriched within biological processes such as “cellular apoptosis”, “oxidation reaction” and “metabolic process” in clusters. Flow cytometric analysis showed that taurine-treated HSCs had a significantly increased apoptosis rate when compared with the control group.

CONCLUSION: Natural taurine can promote HSC apoptosis so as to inhibit hepatic fibrosis.

Keywords: Natural taurine; Proteomics; Hepatic stellate cell; Hepatic fibrosis; Apoptosis