Tripartite motif protein 52 (TRIM52) promoted fibrosis in LX‐2 cells through PPM1A‐mediated Smad2/3 pathway

To investigate the roles of tripartite motif containing 52 (TRIM52) in human hepatic fibrosis in vitro, human hepatic stellate cell line LX‐2 cells were transfected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) replicon to establish HBV‐induced fibrosis in LX‐2 cells, and then treated with small interfering RNA‐mediated knockdown of TRIM52 (siTRIM52). LX‐2 cells without HBV replicon transfection were treated with lentiviruses‐mediated overexpression of TRIM52 and phosphatase magnesium dependent 1A (PPM1A). Fibrosis response of LX‐2 cells were assessed by the production of hydroxyproline (Hyp) and collagen I/III, as well as protein levels of α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA). PPM1A and phosphorylated (p)‐Smad2/3 were measured to assess the mechanism. The correlation between TRIM52 and PPM1A was determined using co‐immunoprecipitation, and whether and how TRIM52 regulated the degradation of PPM1A were determined by ubiquitination assay. Our data confirmed HBV‐induced fibrogenesis of LX‐2 cells, as evidenced by significant increase in Hyp and collagen I/III and α‐SMA, which was associated with reduction of PPM1A and elevation of transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β), p‐Smad2/3, and p‐Smad3L. However, those changes induced by HBV were significantly attenuated with additional siTRIM52 treatment. Similar to HBV, overexpression of TRIM52 exerted promoted effect in the fibrosis of LX‐2 cells. Interestingly, TRIM52 induced the fibrogenesis of LX‐2 cells and the activation of TGF‐β/Smad pathway were significantly reversed by PPM1A overexpression. Furthermore, our data confirmed TRIM52 as a deubiquitinase that influenced the accumulation of PPM1A protein, and subsequently regulated the fibrogenesis of LX‐2 cells. TRIM52 was a fibrosis promoter in hepatic fibrosis in vitro, likely through PPM1A‐mediated TGF‐β/Smad pathway.     

Psoralen attenuates bleomycin‐induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice through inhibiting myofibroblast activation and collagen deposition

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) and chronic inflammation with limited therapeutic options. Psoralen, a major active component extracted from Psoralea corylifolia L. seed, has several biological effects. However, the role of psoralen in IPF is still unclear. Here, we hypothesized that psoralen played an essential role in IPF in the inhibition of fibroblast proliferation and inflammatory response. A murine model of IPF was established by injecting bleomycin (BLM) intratracheally, and psoralen was administered for 14 days from the 7^th to 21^st day after BLM injection. Our results demonstrated that psoralen treatment reduced body weight loss and improved the survival rate of mice with IPF. Histological and immunofluorescent examination showed that psoralen alleviated BLM‐induced lung parenchymal inflammatory and fibrotic alteration. Furthermore, psoralen inhibited proliferation and collagen synthesis of mouse fibroblasts and partially reversed BLM‐induced expression of α‐smooth muscle actin at both the tissue and cell level. Moreover, psoralen decreased the expression of transforming growth factor‐β1, interleukin‐1β, and tumor necrosis factor‐α in the lungs of BLM‐stimulated mice. Our results reveale for the first time that psoralen exerts therapeutic effects against IPF in a BLM‐induced murine model.     

α-荼异硫氰酸酯诱导小鼠胆汁淤积性肝纤维化及其炎症通路*

目的: 探讨α-荼异硫氰酸酯(ANIT)诱导的胆汁淤积性肝纤维化的发展及其炎症通路。方法: 将15只体重为(23±2) g的129/Sv小鼠随机分为对照组(n=5)和实验组(n=10)。对照组常规饲料喂养,实验组小鼠给予0.05% ANIT饲料食饲。实验组分别在14 d和28 d各处死5只小鼠,收集胆囊、血清、肝脏等标本。按试剂盒程序检测胆汁淤积生化指标,组织病理学评估肝细胞损伤程度,Q-PCR和WB分析肝纤维化、炎症反应等水平。结果: 与对照组相比,造模第2周ANIT -14 d组(A-D14)中的主要胆汁淤积指标总胆汁酸(TBA)从(3.2±0.9) μmol/L显著增加至(31.6±4.3) μmol/L,肝损伤指标谷草转氨酶(AST)和谷丙转氨酶(ALT)也显著升高(P＜0.05);纤维化因子金属蛋白酶组织抑制因子1(TIMP-1)、单核细胞趋化因子(MCP-1)、I型胶原蛋白(Collagen I)表达高于对照组(P＜0.05);Collagen I和α-SMA纤维化蛋白表达均上调;肝脏胶原纤维大量沉积,纤维化已产生(P＜0.05)。炎症因子表达高于对照组,JNK、c-Jun、STAT3等均被激活(P＜0.05)。ANIT-28 d组(A-D28)中除AST、基质金属蛋白酶2(MMP-2),Collagen I指标稍有降低外,其余胆汁淤积、肝损伤、肝纤维化、炎症等指标继续上调或保持稳定(P＜ 0.05)。结论: 0.05%的ANIT饲料干预14 d,小鼠即发生明显的胆汁淤积性肝纤维化;28 d后,胆汁淤积性肝纤维化趋于稳定;JNK炎症通路在肝纤维化的发生发展中起着至关重要的作用。     

蚓激酶在慢性乙型肝炎治疗中的潜在作用

纤连蛋白(FN)是参与乙型肝炎病毒感染和肝脏纤维化的重要分子。 蚓激酶(LK)是从赤子爱胜蚓(Eisenia foetide)中提取的一组蛋白水解同工酶,能水解纤维蛋白治疗凝血相关疾病。 从这组同工酶中分离纯化出单一活性成分,在体外可降解纤连蛋白,被命名为蚯蚓纤连蛋白水解酶(EFNase)。 然而,LK 能否预防乙型肝炎病毒感染以及缓解因乙型肝炎导致的肝脏损伤等问题还不清楚。本研究以人肝癌细胞系HepG2.2.15为细胞模型,观察LK 对乙型肝炎表面抗原(HBsAg)或 FN 水平的影响;以 C57BL / 6J-HBV 转基因小鼠为动物模型,探讨 LK 对小鼠血清中 HBsAg、FN、丙氨酸氨基转移酶(ALT)、天门冬氨酸氨基转移酶(AST)水平及肝脏病理改变的影响。结果表明,LK 在体内外均能抑制HBsAg 的生成,降低血清和肝脏FN。与生理盐水处理组相比,LK 改善了肝脏的状态。这些数据为理解LK 作为治疗乙型肝炎的潜在有效药物的治疗作用提供了有价值的信息。     

Pathophysiological relationship between hypoxia associated oxidative stress,Epithelial-mesenchymal transition,stemness acquisition and alteration of Shh/ Gli-1 axis during oral sub-mucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral sub-mucous fibrosis (OSF) is a pathophysiological state of oral cavity or oropharynx having a high chance of conversion to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). It involves fibrotic transformation of sub-epithelial matrix along with epithelial abnormalities. The present work aims to unveil the mechanistic domain regarding OSF to OSCC conversion exploring the scenario of hypoxia associated oxidative stress, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), metastasis and stemness acquisition. The study involves histopathological analysis of the diseased condition along with the exploration of oxidative stress status, assessment of mitochondrial condition, immunohistochemical analysis of HIF-1α, E-cadherin, vimentin, ERK, ALDH-1, CD133, Shh, Gli-1 and survivin expressions in the oral epithelial region together with the quantitative approach towards collagen deposition in the sub-epithelial matrix. Oxidative stress was found to be associated with type-II EMT in case of OSF attributing the development of sub-epithelial fibrosis and type-III EMT in case of OSCC favoring malignancy associated metastasis. Moreover, the acquisition of stemness during OSCC can also be correlated with EMT. Alteration of Shh and Gli-1 expression pattern revealed the mechanistic association of hypoxia with the phenotypic plasticity and disease manifestation in case of OSF as well as OSCC. Shh/ Gli-1 signaling can also be correlated with survivin mediated cytoprotective phenomenon under oxidative stress. Overall, the study established the correlative network of hypoxia associated oxidative stress, EMT and manifestation of oral pre-cancerous and cancerous condition in a holistic approach that may throw rays of hope in the therapeutic domain of the concerned diseases.     

Efficient screening of predictive biomarkers for individual treatment selection

The development of molecular diagnostic tools to achieve individualized medicine requires identifying predictive biomarkers associated with subgroups of individuals who might receive beneficial or harmful effects from different available treatments. However, due to the large number of candidate biomarkers in the large‐scale genetic and molecular studies, and complex relationships among clinical outcome, biomarkers, and treatments, the ordinary statistical tests for the interactions between treatments and covariates have difficulties from their limited statistical powers. In this paper, we propose an efficient method for detecting predictive biomarkers. We employ weighted loss functions of Chen et al. to directly estimate individual treatment scores and propose synthetic posterior inference for effect sizes of biomarkers. We develop an empirical Bayes approach, namely, we estimate unknown hyperparameters in the prior distribution based on data. We then provide efficient screening methods for the candidate biomarkers via optimal discovery procedure with adequate control of false discovery rate. The proposed method is demonstrated in simulation studies and an application to a breast cancer clinical study in which the proposed method was shown to detect the much larger numbers of significant biomarkers than existing standard methods.     

牛磺酸上调基因1(TUG1)对肝纤维化的作用及其机制*

目的:探讨牛磺酸上调基因1(TUG1)在肝纤维化中的作用机制。方法:按照文献建立TGF-β1(5 ng/ml)刺激的活化肝星状细胞模型和经典的1%DMN(1 ml/kg/d)致大鼠肝纤维化模型,将肝纤维化大鼠和活化肝星状细胞(HSC)均分为模型对照组、阴性对照组(沉默TUG1阴性对照)、siRNA干扰组(TUG1基因沉默组)。实验结束后利用苏木精-伊红(HE)染色检测大鼠肝脏组织病理变化;采用逆转录-聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)法、蛋白免疫印记(Western blot)分别测定大鼠肝组织及活化肝星状细胞中α-平滑肌肌动蛋白(α-SMA)、TUG1、I型胶原蛋白(collagenI)、基质金属蛋白酶-2(MMP-2)、金属蛋白酶组织抑制因子(TIMP-1)、Smad2、Smad3表达水平。结果:肝组织病理学检查显示,沉默TUG1能够明显缓解肝脏纤维化病理改变,Western blot结果显示,沉默TUG1能够显著降低大鼠肝组织和活化肝星状细胞中TUG1、α-SMA、collagenI、MMP-2、TIMP-1、Smad2、Smad3基因与蛋白表达水平(P＜0.05)。与模型对照组相比,阴性对照组的TUG1、α-SMA的蛋白与基因水平明显升高(P＜0.05)。与模型对照组和阴性对照组相比,siRNA干扰组中TUG1, α-SMA, collagenI, MMP-2, TIMP-1, Smad2 and Smad3的蛋白和基因水平显著降低(P＜0.05),而在模型对照组和阴性对照组中TUG1, α-SMA, collagenI, MMP-2, TIMP-1, Smad2 and Smad3的蛋白和基因表达水平之间差异无显著性。结论:TUG1在肝纤维化组织和活化的肝星状细胞中显著上调,沉默TUG1可能通过抑制转化生长因子-β1(TGF-β1)/Smad信号通路改善1%DMN致大鼠肝纤维化病理损伤,降低活化肝星状细胞中纤维化相关蛋白水平,发挥抗肝纤维化的作用。