Cordycepin inhibits expression of syndecan-4 protein in rat vascular smooth muscle cells induced by tumor necrosis factor-α in vitro

Objective To investigate the effects of cordycepin on the proliferation of rat vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs)and expression of syndecan-4 protein induced by tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α).Methods VSMCs were cultured in vitro and exposed to 20 ng/mL TNF-α,20 μmol/mL cordycepin,40 μmol/mL cordycepin,20 μmol/mL cordycepin with 20 ng/mL TNF-α,and 40 μmol/mL cordycepin with 20 ng/mL TNF-α,respectively.All groups were treated for 24 h in vitro,in addition to the control group established for comparison.The ratio of proliferation of VSMCs was determined by non-radioactive MTS/PMS assay and the expression of syndecan-4 protein was evaluated by Western blotting using anti-syndecan-4 antibody.Results(1) Compared to the control group,TNF-α significantly stimulated the proliferation of rat VSMCs at the concentration of 20 ng/mL in TNF-α group(P0.05).Cordycepin alone had no effect on VSMCs growth(P0.05),but significantly inhibited VSMCs proliferation induced by TNF-α(P0.05).(2) Compared to the control group,the expression of syndecan-4 protein in VSMCs was significantly enhanced by TNF-α at the concentration of 20 ng/ml(P0.01).Cordycepin alone had no effect on the expression of syndecan-4 protein(P0.05),but significantly inhibited the expression induced by TNF-α(P0.01).Conclusion Cordycepin could inhibit cell proliferation and expression of syndean-4 protein in rat VSMCs induced by TNF-α in vitro.