Effects of She xiang bao xin wan (SXBXW) on phenotype transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells

AIM: To observe the effects of She xiang bao xin wan (SXBXW) of Chinese patent drug on the phenotype transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells.METHODS: The vascular smooth muscle cell line RASMC P8 was used as the cell model in this experiment. The cells were treated with SXBXW at the doses of 0.25 g/L, 0.50 g/L, 1.0 g/L and 2.0 g/L, respectively, and control cells were treated with the same volume of culture medium without SXBXW. The expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and the smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC), which served as specific molecular markers of vascular smooth muscle contraction in RASMC P8 cells, was analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The percentages of α-SMA and SM-MHC negative cells in SXBXW treated groups were lower than those in control group. Meanwhile, the percentages of α-SMA and SM-MHC positive cells were increased in RASMC P8 cells treated with SXBXW, indicating that SXBXW prompted the transformation of RASMC P8 cells from synthetic to contractile phenotype.CONCLUSION: Chinese patent drug SXBXW plays a role in transforming the cell phenotype from synthetic to the contraction in vascular smooth muscle.