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Wu S, Liu M, Zhang M, Ye X, Gu H, Jiang C, Zhu H, Ye X, Li Q, Huang X, Cao M. The gene expression of CALD1, CDH2, and POSTN in fibroblast are related to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1275064. [PMID: 38370408 PMCID: PMC10869495 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1275064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by progressive lung dysfunction due to excessive collagen production and tissue scarring. Despite recent advancements, the molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Methods RNA sequencing identified 475 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the TGF-β1-induced primary lung fibrosis model. Gene expression chips GSE101286 and GSE110147 from NCBI gene expression omnibus (GEO) database were analyzed using GEO2R, revealing 94 DEGs in IPF lung tissue samples. The gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment, Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction, and Maximal Clique Centrality (MCC) scoring were performed. Experimental validation included RT-qPCR, Immunohistochemistry (IHC), and Western Blot, with siRNA used for gene knockdown. A co-expression network was constructed by GeneMANIA. Results GO enrichment highlighted significant enrichment of DEGs in TGF-β cellular response, connective tissue development, extracellular matrix components, and signaling pathways such as the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway and ECM-receptor interaction. PPI network analysis identified hub genes, including FN1, COL1A1, POSTN, KIF11, and ECT2. CALD1 (Caldesmon 1), CDH2 (Cadherin 2), and POSTN (Periostin) were identified as dysregulated hub genes in both the RNA sequencing and GEO datasets. Validation experiments confirmed the upregulation of CALD1, CDH2, and POSTN in TGF-β1-treated fibroblasts and IPF lung tissue samples. IHC experiments probed tissue-level expression patterns of these three molecules. Knockdown of CALD1, CDH2, and POSTN attenuated the expression of fibrotic markers (collagen I and α-SMA) in response to TGF-β1 stimulation in primary fibroblasts. Co-expression analysis revealed interactions between hub genes and predicted genes involved in actin cytoskeleton regulation and cell-cell junction organization. Conclusions CALD1, CDH2, and POSTN, identified as potential contributors to pulmonary fibrosis, present promising therapeutic targets for IPF patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shufei Wu
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Mengying Liu
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Mingrui Zhang
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Xu Ye
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Huimin Gu
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Cheng Jiang
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Huihui Zhu
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaoling Ye
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Qi Li
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Xinmei Huang
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
- Nanjing Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing, China
| | - Mengshu Cao
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- Nanjing Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing, China
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Kim J, Lee J, Li X, Lee HS, Kim K, Chaparala V, Murphy W, Zhou W, Cao J, Lowes MA, Krueger JG. Single-cell transcriptomics suggest distinct upstream drivers of IL-17A/F in hidradenitis versus psoriasis. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2023; 152:656-666. [PMID: 37271319 PMCID: PMC11057969 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2023.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND On the basis of the mounting evidence that type 17 T (T17) cells and increased IL-17 play a key role in driving hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) lesion development, biologic agents used previously in psoriasis that block signaling of IL-17A and/or IL-17F isoforms have been repurposed to treat HS. OBJECTIVE Our research aimed to characterize the transcriptome of HS T17 cells compared to the transcriptome of psoriasis T17 cells, along with their ligand-receptor interactions with neighborhood immune cell subsets. METHODS Single-cell data of 12,300 cutaneous immune cells from 8 deroofing surgical HS skin samples including dermal tunnels were compared to single-cell data of psoriasis skin (19,525 cells from 11 samples) and control skin (11,920 cells from 10 samples). All single-cell data were generated by the same protocol. RESULTS HS T17 cells expressed lower levels of IL23R and higher levels of IL1R1 and IL17F compared to psoriasis T17 cells (P < .05). HS Treg cells expressed higher levels of IL1R1 and IL17F compared to psoriasis Treg cells (P < .05). Semimature dendritic cells were the major immune cell subsets expressing IL1B in HS, and IL-1β ligand-receptor interactions between semimature dendritic cells and T17 cells were increased in HS compared to psoriasis (P < .05). HS dermal tunnel keratinocytes expressed inflammatory cytokines (IL17C, IL1A, IL1B, and IL6) that differed from the HS epidermis keratinocytes (IL36G) (P < .05). IL6, which synergizes with IL1B to maintain cytokine expression in T17 cells, was mainly expressed by fibroblasts in HS, which also expressed IL11+ inflammatory fibroblast genes (IL11, IL24, IL6, and POSTN) involved in the paracrine IL-1/IL-6 loop. CONCLUSION The IL-1β-T17 cell cytokine axis is likely a dominant pathway in HS with HS T17 cells activated by IL-1β signaling, unlike psoriasis T17 cells, which are activated by IL-23 signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaehwan Kim
- Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, Calif; Dermatology Section, Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System, Mather, Calif; Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY.
| | - Jongmi Lee
- Dermatology Section, Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System, Mather, Calif
| | - Xuan Li
- Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
| | - Hyun Soo Lee
- Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
| | - Katherine Kim
- Dermatology Section, Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System, Mather, Calif
| | - Vasuma Chaparala
- Dermatology Section, Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System, Mather, Calif
| | - William Murphy
- Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, Calif
| | - Wei Zhou
- Laboratory of Single-Cell Genomics and Population Dynamics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
| | - Junyue Cao
- Laboratory of Single-Cell Genomics and Population Dynamics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
| | - Michelle A Lowes
- Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
| | - James G Krueger
- Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY.
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Abstract
Pericytes are a heterogeneous population of mesenchymal cells located on the abluminal surface of microvessels, where they provide structural and biochemical support. Pericytes have been implicated in numerous lung diseases including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and allergic asthma due to their ability to differentiate into scar-forming myofibroblasts, leading to collagen deposition and matrix remodelling and thus driving tissue fibrosis. Pericyte-extracellular matrix interactions as well as other biochemical cues play crucial roles in these processes. In this review, we give an overview of lung pericytes, the key pro-fibrotic mediators they interact with, and detail recent advances in preclinical studies on how pericytes are disrupted and contribute to lung diseases including PAH, allergic asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Several recent studies using mouse models of PAH have demonstrated that pericytes contribute to these pathological events; efforts are currently underway to mitigate pericyte dysfunction in PAH by targeting the TGF-β, CXCR7, and CXCR4 signalling pathways. In allergic asthma, the dissociation of pericytes from the endothelium of blood vessels and their migration towards inflamed areas of the airway contribute to the characteristic airway remodelling observed in allergic asthma. Although several factors have been suggested to influence this migration such as TGF-β, IL-4, IL-13, and periostin, recent evidence points to the CXCL12/CXCR4 pathway as a potential therapeutic target. Pericytes might also play an essential role in lung dysfunction in response to ageing, as they are responsive to environmental risk factors such as cigarette smoke and air pollutants, which are the main drivers of COPD. However, there is currently no direct evidence delineating the contribution of pericytes to COPD pathology. Although there is a lack of human clinical data, the recent available evidence derived from in vitro and animal-based models shows that pericytes play important roles in the initiation and maintenance of chronic lung diseases and are amenable to pharmacological interventions. Therefore, further studies in this field are required to elucidate if targeting pericytes can treat lung diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annelise T. Garrison
- School of Biosciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Rebecca E. Bignold
- School of Biosciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Xinhui Wu
- School of Biosciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
- Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Jill R. Johnson
- School of Biosciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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Tirunavalli SK, Kuncha M, Sistla R, Andugulapati SB. Targeting TGF-β/periostin signaling by sesamol ameliorates pulmonary fibrosis and improves lung function and survival. J Nutr Biochem 2023; 116:109294. [PMID: 36948431 DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2023.109294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive disorder that severely impairs lung function, by increasing lung stiffness. Sesamol, a phenolic Phyto-molecule isolated from sesame seeds, possess a rich source of protein and is known to have extensive nutritional and health effects. Here we investigated the effect of sesamol on TGF-β/periostin-induced fibroblast differentiation in in vitro and bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in an in vivo model. Our results demonstrated that activation of (DHLF, LL29, NHLF and A549) cells with TGF-β, elevates the epithelial to mesenchymal, extracellular matrix, and collagen deposition and periostin signaling marker's expression, further treatment with sesamol attenuated these markers significantly. In addition, sesamol treatment improved the TGF-β-induced contraction and migration of cells. Mechanistic studies showed that activation of IPF cells with periostin increased the TGF-β signaling and treatment with sesamol significantly abrogated the periostin-induced TGF-β activation and its downstream fibrotic marker's expression. In in vivo, sesamol treatment attenuated the lung inflammation, infiltration of cells, wall thickening and the formation of fibrous bands significantly in BLM-induced fibrosis rats. Molecular studies revealed that sesamol treatment reduced the bleomycin-induced fibrotic, inflammatory, apoptotic marker's expression by modulating the TGF-β/periostin crosstalk signaling in a dose-dependent manner. Further, treatment with sesamol dramatically improved lung function and decreased mortality. Our study first time reports the sesamol's inhibitory effects on periostin signalling. Collectively, our study demonstrated that periostin and TGF-β seem to work in a positive-feedback loop, inducing the other, therefore, targeting TGF-β/periostin signaling may provide a better therapeutic approach against IPF and other fibrotic disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satya Krishna Tirunavalli
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh- 201 002, India
| | - Madhusudhana Kuncha
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007, Telangana, India
| | - Ramakrishna Sistla
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh- 201 002, India
| | - Sai Balaji Andugulapati
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh- 201 002, India.
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Pan HJ, Lee CW, Wu LY, Hsu HH, Tung YC, Liao WY, Lee CH. A 3D culture system for evaluating the combined effects of cisplatin and anti-fibrotic drugs on the growth and invasion of lung cancer cells co-cultured with fibroblasts. APL Bioeng 2023; 7:016117. [PMID: 37006781 PMCID: PMC10060027 DOI: 10.1063/5.0115464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Fibrosis and fibroblast activation usually occur in the tissues surrounding a malignant tumor; therefore, anti-fibrotic drugs are used in addition to chemotherapy. A reliable technique for evaluating the combined effects of anti-fibrotic drugs and anticancer drugs would be beneficial for the development of an appropriate treatment strategy. In this study, we manufactured a three-dimensional (3D) co-culture system of fibroblasts and lung cancer cell spheroids in Matrigel supplemented with fibrin (fibrin/Matrigel) that simulated the tissue microenvironment around a solid tumor. We compared the efficacy of an anticancer drug (cisplatin) with or without pretreatments of two anti-fibrotic drugs, nintedanib and pirfenidone, on the growth and invasion of cancer cells co-cultured with fibroblasts. The results showed that the addition of nintedanib improved cisplatin's effects on suppressing the growth of cancer cell spheroids and the invasion of cancer cells. In contrast, pirfenidone did not enhance the anticancer activity of cisplatin. Nintedanib also showed higher efficacy than pirfenidone in reducing the expression of four genes in fibroblasts associated with cell adhesion, invasion, and extracellular matrix degradation. This study demonstrated that the 3D co-cultures in fibrin/Matrigel would be useful for assessing the effects of drug combinations on tumor growth and invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huei-Jyuan Pan
- Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Wei Lee
- Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Li-Yu Wu
- Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
| | - Heng-Hua Hsu
- Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Chung Tung
- Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Yu Liao
- Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed: and
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Shintani Y, Kimura T, Funaki S, Ose N, Kanou T, Fukui E. Therapeutic Targeting of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Tumor Microenvironment. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15. [PMID: 36672284 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15020335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. The most common lung cancer is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with an overall 5-year survival rate of around 20% because NSCLC is a metastatic disease. A better understanding of the mechanism underlying lung cancer metastasis is therefore urgently needed. The tumor microenvironment involves different types of stromal cells and functions as key components in the progression of NSCLC. Through epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), in which epithelial cells lose their polarity and acquire mesenchymal potential, cancer cells acquire metastatic abilities, as well as cancer stem-cell-like potential. We previously reported that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) interact with lung cancer cells to allow for the acquisition of malignancy and treatment resistance by paracrine loops via EMT signals in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, CAFs regulate the cytotoxic activity of immune cells via various cytokines and chemokines, creating a microenvironment of immune tolerance. Regulation of CAFs can therefore affect immune responses. Recent research has shown several roles of CAFs in NSCLC tumorigenesis, owing to their heterogeneity, so molecular markers of CAFs should be elucidated to better classify tumor-promoting subtypes and facilitate the establishment of CAF-specific targeted therapies. CAF-targeted cancer treatments may suppress EMT and regulate the niche of cancer stem cells and the immunosuppressive network and thus may prove useful for NSCLC treatment through multiple mechanisms.
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Wang C, Yang J. Mechanical forces: The missing link between idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer. Eur J Cell Biol 2022; 101:151234. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2022.151234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
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