IL-17 stimulates aortic valve interstitial cells transformation into osteoblast-like cells

Abstract

Objective To investigate whether IL-17 could stimulate aortic valve interstitial cells transformation into osteoblast-like cells. Methods Human aortic valve interstitial cells were cultured via culture technology in vitro, and randomly divided into two groups after the subcultivation for three to five generations: the control group, adding 2 ml RPMI-1640; the experiment group, adding 2 ml RPMI-1640 and IL-17 (50 ng/ml). After 48 hours, the calcification of valve interstitial cells was detected by cell alizarin red staining and the expression of alkali phosphatase (ALP) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) was examined by RT-PCR and Western Blot analysis. Results Compared with the control group, valve interstitial cells in the experiment group had more calcium nodus and expressed more protein and mRNA of ALP (0.741±0.063 vs. 0.184±0.032; 0.900±0.060 vs. 0.396±0.030, both P<0.01) and BMP-2 (0.236±0.004 vs. 0.106±0.003; 0.523±0.052 vs. 0.194±0.047, both P<0.01). Conclusions IL-17 can stimulate aortic valve interstitial cells transformation into osteoblast-like cell. Key words: Interleukin-17; Aortic valve interstitial cell; Alkali phosphatase; Bone morphogenetic protein-2