Formononetin alleviates thermal injury-induced skin fibroblast apoptosis and promotes cell proliferation and migration

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the effect and mechanism of formononetin (FMNT) in thermal-injured fibroblast proliferation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. After the thermal injury, HSF cells showed inhibited proliferation, migration, and ECM synthesis, whereas increased apoptosis, ROS production, and inflammation. Specifically, after thermal injury, cell viability, migration distance, and protein levels of Collage I, Collage III, α-SMA, MMP1, and MMP3 were reduced; cell apoptosis rate and TUNEL-positive cell numbers were increased; the levels of Bax and Cleaved caspase-3 showed to be elevated, while Bcl-2 level showed to be reduced. Moreover, the thermal injured-HSF cells showed increased levels of ROS, MDA, LDH, TNF-α, and IL-1β, and decreased GSH, SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT. FMNT levels can partially eliminate the effects of thermal injury on HSF cells, as shown by promoting thermal injured-HSF cell proliferation and migration, and inhibiting cell apoptosis, ROS production, and inflammation. FMNT exerted no significant effect on normal HSF cells. Additionally, the level of the P13K/AKT/mTOR signaling-related proteins (p-P13K, p-AKT, and p-mTOR) was reduced in thermal injured-HSF cells, whereas FMNT could promote p-P13K, p-AKT, and p-mTOR levels. FMNT can partially alleviate the thermal injury-induced inhibition of fibroblast proliferation and migration; FMNT also inhibited the apoptosis, ROS level, and inflammation in thermal-injured cells. The effects of FMNT may be mediated by regulating the P13K/AKT/mTOR pathway.