Abstract:Objective To investigate the effects of cholesterol on proliferation and apoptosis of interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLCs) isolated from guinea pig gallbladder in vitro.Methods ICLCs of guinea pig gallbladder were isolated and cultured in vitro.After the ICLCs were treated with cholesterol medium containing different concentrations(0,12.5, 25, 50,100 mg/L) for 24 h,cell proliferation was detected by cell-comting kit-8 method,cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry,c-kit protein expression was detected by Western blot,and c-kit mRNA expression was detected by real time fluorescence quantitative PCR.Results After the ICLCs were treated with cholesterol medium containing different concentrations(25,50,100 mg/L) for 24 h,the proliferation rate of ICLCs decreased significantly (P<0.05),the apoptotic rate of ICLCs increased significantly (P<0.05),the expression of c-kit protein and c-kit mRNA decreased significantly (P<0.05) in 25、50、100 mg/L cholesterol concentration group compared with 0 mg/L.Conclusions High concentration of cholesterol can inhibit the proliferation of ICLCs and promote the apoptosis of ICLCs.The decrease of the proliferation rate of ICLCs may be due to the blockage of SCF/c-kit signaling pathway.