Levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator in lung tissue of children with congenital heart disease pulmonary hypertension and its effect on proliferation and migration of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells

Abstract

Objective To observe the levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) in lung tissue of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) and its effect on proliferation and migration of human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (HPASMCs), and to investigate the action mechanism of ARNT in the pathogenesis of CHD-PAH. Methods Sixty patients with CHD ventricular septal defect-associated PAH were selected as CHD-PAH group and 60 children with CHD ventricular septal defect without PAH were selected as CHD group (CHD group) in our hospital. There were no significant difference in age and gender between the two groups. HPASMCs were divided into normoxia group and hypoxia group, which were induced by normoxia and hypoxia respectively. HPASMCs were divided into blank control group (BC group), negative control group (NC group) and siR-ARNT group. The cells in the siR-ARNT group were transfected with ARNT-shRNA lentivirus, and those in the NC group were transfected with negative control lentivirus. The cells in the BC group were not transfected. The expression levels of ARNT protein and mRNA in lung tissue and cells were detected by Western blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The cell proliferation ability was determined by the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method. Transwell and scratch assays were used to measure cell migration ability. SPSS 20.0 software was used for analysis. The test methods were t test and analysis of variance. Results The expression levels of ARNT protein and mRNA in lung tissue of CHD-PAH group (0.53±0.06 and 2.36±0.17) were significantly higher than those in CHD group (0.09±0.02, 1.00±0.12, t=53.889 and 50.626, P 0.05). Conclusion The ARNT levels in lung tissue of children with CHD-PAH are elevated. ARNT may participate in the development of CHD-PAH by affecting the proliferation and migration of HPASMCs. Key words: Congenital heart disease; Pulmonary hypertension; Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocation protein; Pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells; Proliferation; Migration