Paeoniflorin Upregulates β-defensin-2Expression In Human Bronchial Epithelial Cell Through The P38MAPK, ERK, And NF-κB Signaling Pathways

Objective:This study aims to determine whether or not PF can regulate the expression of hBD-2and its possible molecular mechanism in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs).Methods:Cell Counting Kit (CCK)-8detection kit was used to evaluate cell viability for the determination of noncytotoxic concentrations.Kinetics studies of PF effects on HBD-2mRNA by Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR and hBD-2secretion by ELISA. Western Blotting detected p38MAPK, ERK, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase phosphorylation and Immunofluorescence analyzed NF-κB translocation of16HBE cells after PF treatment.Results:This result suggests that treatment with PF at the concentration range of0μM to100μM for48h elicits no cytotoxicity on16HBECs. we observed that PF can enhance the mRNA expression level of hBD-2in a concentration-and time-dependent manner in HBECs.; Further studies demonstrated that the mRNA and protein expression levels of hBD-2were attenuated by the p38mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) inhibitor SB203580, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor PD98059, and the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) inhibitor (PDTC).Conclusions:These results support that PF upregulates hBD-2expression in HBECs through the p38MAPK, ERK, and NF-κB signaling pathways. These findings provide a new pharmacological mechanism of PF for the treatment of microbial infections by strengthening epithelial antimicrobial barriers.