TIMP1 regulation of cardiac fibroblast proliferation via the TGF-β/Smad pathway in an in vitro model of atrial fibrillation

作者：Yimeng Zhou, Lianzhi Zhang, Wenjia Zhang, Qunlin Gong, Zhong Zhang, Nan Xu, Ashley R. Wilson‐Smith, Nannan Chen · 发表于：Journal of Thoracic Disease · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.21037/jtd-2025-1088 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Cardiac Fibrosis and Remodeling、Peptidase Inhibition and Analysis、Protease and Inhibitor Mechanisms

Background: in the angiotensin II (ang II)-induced activation of rat cardiac fibroblasts. Methods: expression and ang II-induced proliferation and related fibrosis pathways were investigated via transfection, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting (WB), and Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), and colony formation assays. Results: enhanced ang II-induced proliferation of rat cardiac fibroblasts and upregulated the expression of fibrotic markers and proteins related to the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. Conclusions: regulates myocardial fibrosis through the TGF-β/Smad pathway, particularly affecting cardiac fibroblast proliferation. Our findings provide new insights into the molecular process of AF and may offer new targets for therapeutic strategies.