Vascular smooth muscle cell senescence plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Anagliptin is a novel dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor for the treatment of hyperglycemia. Recent progress indicates that DPP-4 inhibitors show a wide range of cardiovascular benefits. We hypothesize that Anagliptin plays a role in vascular smooth muscle cell senescence and this may imply its modulation of atherosclerosis. Here, the beneficial effect of Anagliptin against interleukin 1β (IL-1β)-induced cell senescence in vascular smooth muscle cells was studied to learn the promising therapeutic capacity of Anagliptin on atherosclerosis. Firstly, we found that Anagliptin treatment ameliorated the elevated secretions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). Secondly, our findings indicate that exposure to IL-1β reduced telomerase activity from 26.7 IU/L to 15.8 IU/L, which was increased to 20.3 and 24.6 IU/L by 2.5 and 5 μM Anagliptin, respectively. In contrast, IL-1β stimulation increased senescence- associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining to 3.1- fold compared to the control group, it was then reduced to 2.3- and 1.6- fold by Anagliptin dose-dependently. Thirdly, Anagliptin dramatically reversed the upregulated p16, p21, and downregulated sirtuin1 (SIRT1) in IL-1β-treated vascular smooth muscle cells. Lastly, the protective effect of Anagliptin against cellular senescence in vascular smooth muscle cells was abolished by silencing of SIRT1. In conclusion, Anagliptin protects vascular smooth muscle cells from cytokine-induced senescence, and the action of Anagliptin in vascular smooth muscle cells requires SIRT1 expression.
Keywords: Anagliptin; atherosclerosis; cell senescence; il-1β; sirt1; vascular smooth muscle cells.