Hypoxia induces pulmonary arterial fibroblast proliferation, migration, differentiation and vascular remodeling via the PI3K/Akt/p70S6K signaling pathway

The present study was designed to examine whether hypoxia induces the proliferation, migration and differentiation of pulmonary arterial fibroblasts (PAFs) via the PI3K/Akt/p70S6K signaling pathway. PAFs were subjected to normoxia (21% O2) or hypoxia (1% O2). The proliferation, migration, differentiation and cellular p110α, p‑Akt, and p‑p70S6K expression levels of the PAFs were examined in vitro. In addition, rats were maintained under hypoxic conditions, and the right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), right ventricular hypertrophy index (RVHI) and right ventricular weight/body weight ratio (RV/BW) were examined. The expression levels of p110α, p‑Akt, p70S6K, fibronectin and α‑SMA in the rat pulmonary vessels were also examined. Hypoxia significantly elevated the proliferation, migration and differentiation of rat PAFs. It also strongly elevated the expression of p110α, p‑Akt and p‑p70S6K in PAFs in vitro. NVP‑BEZ235 was revealed to significantly reduce the hypoxia‑induced proliferation, migration and differentiation. In vivo experiments demonstrated that hypoxia significantly induced the elevation of RVSP, RVHI, RV/BW, medial thickening, adventitious thickening, and fibronectin and collagen deposition around pulmonary artery walls. The expression of p110α, p‑Akt and p70S6K was evident in the pulmonary arteries of the hypoxic rats. NVP‑BEZ235 significantly reduced the hypoxia‑induced hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling, as well as fibronectin and collagen deposition in the pulmonary arteries. Therefore, hypoxia was demonstrated to induce the proliferation, migration and differentiation of PAFs and the hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling of rats via the PI3K/Akt/p70S6K signaling pathway.