Hydroxysafflor Yellow A Suppresses MRC-5 Cell Activation Induced by TGF-β1 by Blocking TGF-β1 Binding to TβRII

Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is an active ingredient of Carthamus tinctorius L.. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of HSYA on transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-induced changes in proliferation, migration, differentiation, and extracellular matrix accumulation and degradation in human fetal lung fibroblasts (MRC-5), to explore the mechanisms whereby HSYA may alleviate pulmonary fibrosis. MRC-5 cells were incubated with various doses of HSYA and/or the TGF-β receptor type I kinase inhibitor SB431542 and then stimulated with TGF-β1. Cell proliferation was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfo-phenyl)-2H-tetrazolium inner salt assay. Cell migration was detected by wound-healing assay. Protein levels of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen I α 1 (COL1A1), and fibronectin (FN) were measured by immunofluorescence. Protein levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-2, TGF-β type II receptor (TβRII), and TGF-β type I receptor were detected by western blotting. TβRII knockdown with siRNA interfered with the inhibitory effect of HSYA on α-SMA, COL1A1, and FN expression, and TGF-β1-induced Sma and Mad protein (Smad), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway activation. The antagonistic effect of HSYA on the binding of fluorescein isothiocyanate-TGF-β1 to MRC-5 cell cytoplasmic receptors was measured by flow cytometry. HSYA significantly suppressed TGF-β1-induced cell proliferation and migration. HSYA could antagonize the binding of FITC-TGF-β1 to MRC-5 cell cytoplasmic receptors. Also HSYA inhibited TGF-β1-activated cell expression of α-SMA, COL1A1, and FN and phosphorylation level of Smad2, Smad3, and ERK by targeting TβRII in MRC-5 cells. These findings suggest that TβRII might be the target responsible for the inhibitory effects of HSYA on TGF-β1-induced pathological changes in pulmonary fibrosis

Micro-Motion Parameter Extraction of Multi-Scattering-Point Target Based on Vortex Electromagnetic Wave Radar

In addition to traditional linear Doppler shift, the angular Doppler shift in vortex electromagnetic wave (VEMW) radar systems carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) can provide more accurate target identification micro-motion parameters, especially the detailed features perpendicular to the radar line-of-sight (LOS) direction. In this paper, a micro-motion feature extraction method for a spinning target with multiple scattering points based on VEMW radar is proposed. First, a multi-scattering-point spinning target detection model using vortex radar is established, and the mathematical mechanism of echo signal flash shift in time-frequency (TF) domain is deduced. Then, linear Doppler shift is eliminated by interference processing with opposite dual-mode VEMW. Subsequently, the shift in TF flicker is focused on the reference zero frequency by the iterative phase compensation method, and the number of scattering points is estimated according to the focusing effect. After this, through the constructed compensation phase, the angular Doppler shift is separated, then the angular velocity, rotation radiusand initial phase of the target are estimated. Theoretical and simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, and more accurate rotation parameters can be obtained in the case of multiple scattering points using the VEMW radar system