Renin Activity Modulation in HEK293 Cells

Human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells were engineered to express human renin (Genomeditech, Shanghai, China). The stably transfected cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium (Biosera, Nuaille, France) containing 10% foetal bovine serum at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere of 95% air and 5% CO₂, and treated with vehicle (DMSO) or aliskiren (10⁻⁶ M, Sigma, St. Louis, MO) or well-known active compounds (National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, Beijing, China) in Salvia miltiorrhiza, including tanshinone IIA, succinic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid and danshinolic acid, with different final concentrations (10⁻⁸, 10⁻⁷, 10⁻⁶ M). After drug treatment for 24 h, cell protein was isolated by RIPA lysis buffer (Beyotime, Beijing, China) for further analysis on renin activity and ANG II protein expression.