AUTHOR=Huang Yun , Cui Lijian , Yang Hongchao , Chen Ning , Guo Huishan , Gan Xiaoruo , Wang Rong , Shi Weiye , Wu Yu , Zhang Yan , Lv Pin 

TITLE=Lysozyme Improves the Inhibitory Effects of Panax notoginseng Saponins on Phenotype Transformation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells by Binding to Ginsenoside Re

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.795888

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2021.795888

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) has been applied to treat cardiovascular diseases for hundreds of years in China. Lysozyme can bind to exogenous compounds and promote their activity. Nevertheless, knowledge of whether there is a synergistic role between lysozyme and PNS is far from sufficient. Here, we show that the mixture of PNS and lysozyme synergistically inhibited PDGF-BB-induced VSMC viability, and in the five main components of PNS, GS-Re, but not GS-Rb1, NG-R1, GS-Rg1 or GS-Rd, reduced VSMC viability by combined application with lysozyme. Next, the supramolecular complexes formed by GS-Re and lysozyme were detected by mass spectrometry, and the binding ability increased with the concentration ratio of GS-Re to lysozyme from 4:1 to 12:1. In the supramolecular complexes, the relative contents of α-helix of lysozyme were increased, which was beneficial for stabilizing the structure of lysozyme. The 12:1 mixture of GS-Re and lysozyme (12.8 μmol/L GS-Re+1.067 μmol/L lysozyme) repressed PDGF-BB-induced VSMC viability, proliferation and migration, which were associated with the upregulated differentiated markers and downregulated dedifferentiated markers. Finally, in CaCl2-induced rodent AAA models, we found that the 12:1 mixture of GS-Re and lysozyme slowed down AAA progression and reversed phenotype transformation of VSMCs. Thus, Gs-Re combined with a small amount of lysozyme may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for vascular remodeling-associated cardiovascular diseases.