Etanercept protects rat cardiomyocytes against hypertrophy by regulating inflammatory cytokines secretion and cell apoptosis
Authors: Q Li
B Liu
Q Yu
R Na
Journal: Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research (2017)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: etanercept; TNF-Œ± inhibitor; rat cardiomyocyte hypertrophy; apoptosis; myocardial hypertrophy marker genes
Affiliations: Zhejiang Province Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Hangzhou, China., Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian, China.

Abstract:  We aimed to investigate the effect of etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor-Œ± (TNF-Œ±) inhibitor, on rat cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and its underlying mechanism. Primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats. The model of rat cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was induced by endothelin, and then treated with different concentrations of etanercept (1, 10, and 50 ŒºM). After treatment, cell counts, viability and cell apoptosis were evaluated. The mRNA levels of myocardial hypertrophy marker genes, including atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and MMP-13, were detected by qRT-PCR, and the expressions of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2 and Bax) were measured by western blotting. The protein levels of transforming growth factor-Œ≤1 (TGF-Œ≤1), interleukin (IL)-1Œ≤, IL-6, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) were determined using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. In the present study, TNF-Œ± level in cardiomyocytes with hypertrophy was significantly enhanced (P&lt;0.05). Compared to the model group, cell number and viability were significantly increased and ratio of apoptotic cells was reduced by etanercept (P&lt;0.05, P&lt;0.01, or P&lt;0.001). In addition, etanercept remarkably reduced the mRNA levels of ANF, MMP-9 and MMP-13, inhibited the expression of Bax, and increased the expression of Bcl-2 compared to the model group (P&lt;0.05). ELISA results further showed that etanercept lowered the levels of IL-1Œ≤, IL-6, LIF and CT-1 but not TGF-Œ≤1 compared to the model group (P&lt;0.05). Etanercept may protect rat cardiomyocytes from hypertrophy by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines secretion and cell apoptosis. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 If I may quote from posts by Dr Elisabeth Bik: This paper belongs to a set of over 400 papers (as per May 2020) that share very similar Western blots with tadpole-like shaped bands, the same background pattern, and striking similarities in title structures, paper layout, bar graph design, and - in a subset - flow cytometry panels. Despite these similarities, these papers are authored by researchers from different departments and institutes, with almost no overlap in authors.  The list of these papers is available here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 1KXqTAyl4j-jVorFPMD2XRpr76LcIKJ0CVyIvRj0exYQ edit?usp=sharing A more detailed description of this set of papers, suspected to all be generated by a common source, a paper mill , can be found here: https: forbetterscience.com 2020 01 24 the-full-service-paper-mill-and-its-chinese-customers (January 2020) https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 02 21 the-tadpole-paper-mill (February 2020) The same paper mill has been described in these papers: Jana Christopher - Systematic fabrication of scientific images revealed - FEBS Letters (2018) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13201 Jennifer A Byrne and Jana Christopher - Digital magic, or the dark arts of the 21st centuryu2014how can journals and peer reviewers detect manuscripts and publications from paper mills? - FEBS Letters (2020) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13747 ,