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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Animals, Base Sequence, Cells, Cultured, DNA Primers, Hepatic Stellate Cells, Humans, Liver Cirrhosis, Paclitaxel, RNA, Messenger, Rats, Recombinant Proteins, Signal Transduction, Smad Proteins, Transforming Growth Factor beta, Tubulin Modulators.
user
Does paclitaxel ameliorate fibrosis in hepatic stellate cells via inhibition of TGF-beta/Smad activity? Context: To investigated if paclitaxel can attenuate hepatic fibrosis in rat hepatic stellate cells (RHSCs). RHSCs were cultured in vitro and randomly assigned to four groups: normal control group (treated only with Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium), Taxol group (200 nmol/L paclitaxel was added to the cell culture), transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta group (5 ng/mL recombinant human TGF-beta1 was added to the cell culture), and TGF-beta + Taxol group. TGF-beta signaling cascade and status of various extracellular matrix proteins were evaluated by real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. The paclitaxel treatment markedly suppressed Smad2/3 phosphorylation. This was associated with attenuated expression of collagen I and III and fibronectin in RHSCs.
assistant
These data indicate that 200 nmol/L paclitaxel ameliorates hepatic fibrosis via modulating TGF-beta signaling, and that paclitaxel may have some therapeutic value in humans with hepatic fibrosis. Final Decision: yes