Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) gene interference on high glucose (HG) -induced apoptosis, inflammation and extracellular matrix deposition in renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2). Methods HK-2 cells were divided into 4 groups: control group, HG group, HG + shRNA-NC group, HG + HIF-1α-shRNA group. The expression levels of HIF-1α and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The cell proliferation, apoptosis and the levels of inflammatory factors were assayed by cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The protein expression levels were detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with the HG group, the mRNA and protein expression levels of HIF-1α and NGAL were decreased in the HG + HIF-1α-shRNA group, the cell proliferation rate was increased, the apoptosis rate was decreased, the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α were decreased, the level of IL-10 was increased, the expression levels of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase l and collagen type I protein were decreased, and the expression level of matrix metalloproteinase 9 protein was increased in the HG + HIF-1α-shRNA group (P< 0. 01). Conclusion HIF-1α gene interference alleviates HG-induced apoptosis, inflammation and extracellular matrix deposition in HK-2 cells.

Key words: hypoxia inducible factor 1α, HK-2 cells, apoptosis, inflammation, extracellular matrix deposition