scholarly journals Fibronectin Type III Domain-Containing 5 Attenuates Liver Fibrosis Via Inhibition of Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Zhou ◽  
Li Ling ◽  
Feng Zhang ◽  
Tong-Yan Liu ◽  
Hong Zhou ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: Fibronectin type III domain-containing 5 (FNDC5) protein is involved in the beneficial effects of exercise on metabolism. FNDC5 attenuates hepatic steatosis induced by high fat diet (HFD). Here, we examined the effects of FNDC5 on liver fibrosis and underline mechanisms. Methods: Experiments were carried out on wild-type and FNDC5-/- mice, primary mouse hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and human hepatic stellate cell line (LX-2). The mice were fed with HFD for 6 months to induce liver fibrosis. Oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) were used to induce the activation of hepatic stellate cells and fibrosis in mouse HSCs and human LX-2 cells. H&E, Masson’s trichrome staining and Sirius red staining were used for liver sections. Protein and mRNA expressions were evaluated with Western blot and RT-PCR, respectively. Results: FNDC5 deficiency aggravated the HFD-induced liver fibrosis and HSCs activation in mice. It exacerbated the HFD-induced inhibition of AMPK phosphorylation, upregulation of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) in liver of mice. Administration of FNDC5 attenuated oxLDL-induced AMPK deactivation, HSCs activation, CTGF and TGF-β upregulation and ECM deposition in mouse HSCs. The beneficial effects of FNDC5 on oxLDL-induced AMPK dephosphorylation, HSCs activation and ECM deposition were prevented by the inhibition of AMPK with compound C in human LX-2 cells. However, the effects of FNDC5 on hepatic fibrosis in vivo in this study cannot be distinguished from its effects on adiposity and hepatic steatosis. Conclusions: FNDC5 deficiency aggravates HFD-induced liver fibrosis in mice. FNDC5 plays beneficial roles in attenuating liver fibrosis via AMPK phosphorylation-mediated inhibition of HSCs activation.

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1602
Author(s):  
Guangsu Zhu ◽  
Jianxin Zhao ◽  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Gang Wang

Psychobiotics are used to treat neurological disorders, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the mechanisms underlying their neuroprotective effects remain unclear. Herein, we report that the administration of bifidobacteria in an AD mouse model improved behavioral abnormalities and modulated gut dysbiosis. Bifidobacterium breve CCFM1025 and WX treatment significantly improved synaptic plasticity and increased the concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5), and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95). Furthermore, the microbiome and metabolomic profiles of mice indicate that specific bacterial taxa and their metabolites correlate with AD-associated behaviors, suggesting that the gut–brain axis contributes to the pathophysiology of AD. Overall, these findings reveal that B. breve CCFM1025 and WX have beneficial effects on cognition via the modulation of the gut microbiome, and thus represent a novel probiotic dietary intervention for delaying the progression of AD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahim Rejanur Tasin ◽  
Debasish Halder ◽  
Chanchal Mandal

: Liver fibrosis is one of the leading causes for cirrhotic liver disease and the lack of therapies to treat fibrotic liver is a major concern. Liver fibrosis is mainly occurred by activation of hepatic stellate cells and some stem cell therapies had previously reported for treatment. However, due to some problems with cell-based treatment, a safe therapeutic agent is vehemently sought by the researchers. Extracellular vesicles are cell-derived nanoparticles that are employed in several therapeutic approaches, including fibrosis, for their ability to transfer specific molecules in the target cells. In this review the possibilities of extracellular vesicles to inactivate stellate cells are summarized and discussed. According to several studies, extracellular vesicles from different sources can either put beneficial or detrimental effects by regulating the activation of stellate cells. Therefore, targeting extracellular vesicles for maximizing or inhibiting their production is a potential approach for fibrotic liver treatment. Extracellular vesicles from different cells can also inactivate stellate cells by carrying out the paracrine effects of those cells, working as the agents. They are also implicated as smart carrier of anti-fibrotic molecules when their respective parent cells are engineered to produce specific stellate cell-regulating substances. A number of studies showed stellate cell activation can be regulated by up/downregulation of specific proteins, and extracellular vesicle-based therapies can be an effective move to exploit these mechanisms. In conclusion, EVs are advantageous nano-carriers with the potential to treat fibrotic liver by inactivating activated stellate cells by various mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Qi ◽  
Ming-Ze Ma ◽  
Jing-Hua Kuai

Abstract Aim:To elucidate the inhibitory role of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in liver fibrosis and its possible activation mechanism in hepatic stellate cells of mice.Methods:We generated a GDF15-neutralizing antibody that can inhibit TGF-β1-induced activation of the TGF-β/Smad2/3 pathway in LX-2 cells. All the mice in this study were induced by carbon tetrachloride and thioacetamide. In addition, primary hepatic stellate cells from mice were isolated from fresh livers using Nycodenz density gradient separation. The severity and extent of liver fibrosis in mice were evaluated by Sirius Red and Masson staining. The effect of GDF15 on the activation of the TGF-β pathway was detected using dual-luciferase reporter assays and Western blotting assays.Results:The expression of GDF15 in cirrhotic liver tissue was higher than that in normal liver tissue. Blocking GDF15 with a neutralizing antibody resulted in a delay in primary hepatic stellate cell activation and remission of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride or thioacetamide. Meanwhile, TGF-β pathway activation was partly inhibited by a GDF15-neutralizing antibody in primary hepatic stellate cells. These results indicated that GDF15 plays an important role in regulating HSC activation and liver fibrosis progression.Conclusions:The inhibition of GDF15 attenuates chemical-inducible liver fibrosis and delays hepatic stellate cell activation, and this effect is probably mainly attributed to its regulatory role in TGF-β signalling.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1974-1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique de Barros Elias ◽  
Felipe Leite Oliveira ◽  
Fatima Costa Rodrigues Guma ◽  
Renata Brum Martucci ◽  
Radovan Borojevic ◽  
...  

Hepatic stellate cells are liver-specific perivascular cells, identified as the major source of collagen in liver fibrosis, following their activation and conversion to myofibroblast-like cells.


PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenwen Wang ◽  
Min Yan ◽  
Qiuhong Ji ◽  
Jinbiao Lu ◽  
Yuhua Ji ◽  
...  

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation is essential to the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Exploring drugs targeting HSC activation is a promising anti-fibrotic strategy. In the present study, we found suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, prominently suppressed the activation phenotype of a human hepatic stellate cell line—LX2. The production of collagen type I andα-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) as well as the proliferation and migration of LX2 cells were significantly reduced by SAHA treatment. To determine the molecular mechanisms underlying this suppression, genome wild gene regulation by SAHA was determined by Affymetrix 1.0 human cDNA array. Upon SAHA treatment, the abundance of 331 genes was up-regulated and 173 genes was down-regulated in LX2 cells. Bioinformatic analyses of these altered genes highlighted the high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) pathway was one of the most relevant pathways that contributed to SAHA induced suppression of HSCs activation. Further studies demonstrated the increased acetylation of intracellular HMGB1 in SAHA treated HSCs, and this increasing is most likely to be responsible for SAHA induced down-regulation of nuclear factor kappa B1 (NF-κB1) and is one of the main underlying mechanisms for the therapeutic effect of SAHA for liver fibrosis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Si Chen ◽  
Yi Chen ◽  
Bi Chen ◽  
Yi-jing Cai ◽  
Zhuo-lin Zou ◽  
...  

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its signaling molecules, EGFreceptor (EGFR) and signal transducer and activator of transcription factor 3 (STAT3), have been considered to play a role in liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Plumbagin (PL) is an extracted component from the plant and has been used to treat different kinds of cancer. However, its role in regulation of EGFR and STAT3 during liver fibrosis has not been investigated. In this study, the effects of PL on the regulation of EGFR and STAT3 were investigated in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver fibrosis and hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6). PL significantly attenuated liver injury and fibrosis in CCl4treated rats. At concentrations of 2 to 6 μM, PL did not induce significant cytotoxicity of HSC-T6 cells. Moreover, PL reduced phosphorylation of EGFR and STAT3 in both fibrotic liver and heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) treated HSC-T6 cells. Furthermore, PL reduced the expression ofα-SMA, EGFR, and STAT3 in both fibrotic liver and HB-EGF treated HSC-T6 cells. In conclusion, plumbagin could ameliorate the development of hepatic fibrosis through its downregulation of EGFR and STAT3 in the liver, especially in hepatic stellate cells.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Wu ◽  
Xiao-quan Huang ◽  
Na Li ◽  
Cao Xie ◽  
Sheng-xiang Rao ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Activated hepatic stellate cells are the most critical cell responsible for liver fibrosis. In liver fibrogenesis, platelet-derived growth factor is the most prominent mitogen for hepatic stellate cells. This study aims to explore the potential of gadolinium (Gd)-labeled cyclic peptides (pPB) targeted to platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β (PDGFR-β) as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiotracer to identify the progress of liver fibrosis by imaging hepatic PDGFR-β expression. Results: Hepatic PDGFR-β expression level was found to be paralleled with the severity of liver fibrosis, which was increased with the progression of fibrosis and reduced with the regression. Majority of cells expressing PDGFR-β was determined to be activated hepatic stellate cells in fibrotic livers. Culture-activated human hepatic stellate cells expressed abundant PDGFR-β, and FITC-labeled pPB could bind to human hepatic stellate cells in a concentration and time dependent manner. With Gd-labeled pPB as a tracer, an MRI modality demonstrated that the relative hepatic T1-weighed MR signal value was increased progressively along with severity of hepatic fibrosis and reduced with the remission. Conclusion: Hepatic PDGFR-β expression reflects the progress of hepatic fibrosis, and MR imaging using Gd-labeled pPB as a tracer may distinguish different stages of liver fibrosis in mice.


2022 ◽  
Vol 2022 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Junzhou Zhao ◽  
Linlan Qiao ◽  
Jian Dong ◽  
Rongqian Wu

Oxidative stress is a crucial factor in the development of various liver diseases. Irisin, a metabolic hormone discovered in 2012, is mainly produced by proteolytic cleavage of fibronectin type III domain containing 5 (FNDC5) in skeletal muscles. Irisin is induced by physical exercise, and a rapidly growing body of literature suggests that irisin is, at least partially, responsible for the beneficial effects of regular exercise. The major biological function of irisin is believed to be involved in the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis. However, recent studies have suggested the therapeutic potential of irisin against a variety of liver diseases involving its antioxidative function. In this review, we aim to summarize the accumulating evidence demonstrating the antioxidative effects of irisin in liver diseases, with an emphasis on the current understanding of the potential molecular mechanisms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengna Wu ◽  
Huajie Miao ◽  
Rong Fu ◽  
Jie Zhang ◽  
Wenjie Zheng

: Liver cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, in which hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for the majority. Despite the progression in treatment, the prognosis remains extremely poor for HCC patients. The mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis are complex, of which fibrosis is acknowledged as the pre-cancerous stage of HCC. Approximately, 80-90% of HCC develops in the fibrotic or cirrhotic livers. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), the main effector cells of liver fibrosis, could secret various biological contents to maintain the liver inflammation. By decades, HSCs are increasingly correlated with HCC in the tumor microenvironment. : In this review, we summarized the underlying mechanisms that HSCs participated in the genesis and progression of HCC. HSCs secrete various bioactive contents and regulate tumor-related pathways, subsequently contribute to metastasis, angiogenesis, immunosuppression, chemoresistance and cancer stemness. The study indicates that HSC plays vital roles in HCC progression, suggesting it as a promising therapeutic target for HCC treatment.


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