BFGF downregulates endoplasmic reticulum stress to alleviate HUVEC cell damage under high-glucose and inflammatory...

Diabetic angiopathy is one of the common complications of diabetes and one of the main causes of death in diabetic patients. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has various physiological functions. This study applies it to the treatment of vascular injuries in diabetes, aiming to find new treatment methods for diabetic angiopathy.

Human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells were cultivated, and a high glucose and inflammatory environment was induced. Cell-counting kit 8 (CCK8) assay was employed to observe the stimulation concentrations of bFGF and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and their impacts on the activity of HUVEC cells. Scratch assay and transwell assay were utilized to detect the migratory ability of HUVEC cells. Western blot (WB) assay was carried out to detect the expression levels of apoptosis, proliferation, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS), and vascular function proteins. Immunofluorescence (IF) assay was used to detect the fluorescence intensity of apoptosis and vascular function proteins. Tube formation assay was performed to detect the tube-forming ability of HUVEC cells. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the expression levels of ERS genes.

Under high-glucose and inflammatory environments, CCK8 assay found that bFGF enhanced the activity of HUVEC cells. The scratch and transwell assays confirmed that bFGF could enhance the migratory ability of HUVEC cells. The WB and IF assays revealed that bFGF could reduce the expression levels of apoptotic proteins and increase the expression levels of proliferative and vascular function proteins. Meanwhile, both the WB and PCR assays verified that bFGF could downregulate the expression levels of ERS proteins and genes.

In high-glucose and inflammatory environments, bFGF can improve HUCEV cell function by downregulating ERS.