Mechanism of transcription factor Twist on promoting peritoneal fibrosis in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis

Objective To explore the mechanism of transcription factor Twist on promoting peritoneal fibrosis of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). Methods The HPMCs in peritoneal fluid after dialysis from patients underwent peritoneal dialysis was collected and cultured. The expression and subcellular localization of E-cadherin, α-SMA, Twist and Bmi-1 were assayed by immunofluorescence and Western blotting. The expression of Twist, Bmi-1, E-cadherin and α-SMA were determined by immunofluorescence and Western blotting after the plasmids pcDNA3.1-twist and empty vector pcDNA3.1 were transfected into HPMCs with Lipofectamine 2000 in vitro. Twist, Bmi-1, E-cadherin and α-SMA were determined by Western blotting and immunofluorescence after silencing the expression of Twist by small interfering RNA (siRNA) and empty vector pSlience. Bmi-1, E-cadherin and α-SMA were assessed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence after silencing the expression of Bmi-1 by siRNA. Results The expression of E-cadherin decreased gradually and the expression of Twist, α-SMA and Bmi-1 increased along with the increase in PD time as determined with immunofluorescence and Western blotting. Compared with that expressed in the HPMCs trasfected with empty vector pcDNA3.1, the expression of E-cadherin significantly reduced and the expressions of α-SMA, Twist and Bmi-1 increased significantly after transfection of the plasmids pcDNA3.1-twist (P