Effects of twist over-expression on the transdifferentiation of human peritoneal mesothelial cells

Objective To explore the effects of twist over-expression on the transdifferentiation of human peritoneal mesothelial cells(HPMCs).Methods The HPMCs were treated separately with 50mmol/L(high glucose group) and 5.6mmol/L(control group) D-glucose for 48h.The protein expression of twist,E-cadherin,Fsp1 and α-SMA were detected by Western blotting.The mRNA and protein expression of twist,E-cadherin,Fsp1 and α-SMA were tested by qRT-PCR and Western blotting after transfecting the plasmids pcDNA3.1-twist and empty vector pcDNA3.1 into HPMCs with Lipofectamine 2000 in vitro.The protein expression of twist,E-cadherin,Fsp1 and α-SMA were tested by Western blotting after silencing the twist expression by siRNA,empty vector pSlience and the parental cells.Results Compared with control group,the expression of twist,Fsp1 and α-SMA increased,and of E-cadherin decreased in high glucose group(P < 0.05).Compared with the empty vector group,after the over-expression of twist in HPMCs,the expression of E-cadherin decreased,and of Fsp1 and α-SMA increased in high glucose group(P < 0.05).Silencing the twist expression by siRNA,the expression of E-cadherin increased and of α-SMA and Fsp1 decreased in siTwist transfacted cells compared with pSlicencer-transfacted cell and parental cells(P < 0.05),and finally reversed the phenotype of MMT.Conclusion The over-expression of twist may promote the mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition of HPMCs.