Journal: Molecular Medicine

Article Title: Metformin alleviates the calcification of aortic valve interstitial cells through activating the PI3K/AKT pathway in an AMPK dependent way

doi: 10.1186/s10020-021-00416-x

Figure Lengend Snippet: Metformin alleviates aortic calcification by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro. a Metformin inhibits inflammatory factor secretion including IL6, IL8, and MCP-1 in cell supernatant, after treatment with phosphate medium (PM) with or without metformin for 72 h as determined by ELISA; b ROS production was detected and quantified after PM treatment with or without metformin for 72 h; c Cell viability was detected by CCK8 after treatment with PM with or without metformin for 72 h; d Immunofluorescence staining images of p-AKT and OPN expression in AVICs after PM treatment with or without 100 μM metformin for 72 h, Scale bar, 50 μm; e The protein expression of p-AMPK (Thr172), p-AKT (Ser473), PI3K, p-eNOS (Ser1177), BMP2, and OPN in AVICs after PM treatment with or without metformin for 72 h as determined by WB; f Calcium deposition were detected by ARS Staining after various treatments for 7 days, Scale bar, 200 μm. n = 6 per group. CTL, control; Met, metformin; *p < 0.05 versus PM group (one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc test)

Article Snippet: The levels of IL6 (KE00007, Proteintech, China), IL8 (KE00006, Proteintech, China), and MCP-1 (KE00091, Proteintech, China) in the supernatant of AVICs were determined by ELISA.

Techniques: Concentration Assay, In Vitro, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Expressing, Control