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Greenman R, Segal-Salto M, Barashi N, Hay O, Katav A, Levi O, Vaknin I, Aricha R, Aharoni S, Snir T, Mishalian I, Olam D, Amer J, Salhab A, Safadi R, Maor Y, Trivedi P, Weston CJ, Saffioti F, Hall A, Pinzani M, Thorburn D, Peled A, Mor A. CCL24 regulates biliary inflammation and fibrosis in primary sclerosing cholangitis. JCI Insight 2023; 8:e162270. [PMID: 37345655 PMCID: PMC10371243 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.162270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
ˆCCL24 is a pro-fibrotic, pro-inflammatory chemokine expressed in several chronic fibrotic diseases. In the liver, CCL24 plays a role in fibrosis and inflammation, and blocking CCL24 led to reduced liver injury in experimental models. We studied the role of CCL24 in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and evaluated the potential therapeutic effect of blocking CCL24 in this disease. Multidrug resistance gene 2-knockout (Mdr2-/-) mice demonstrated CCL24 expression in liver macrophages and were used as a relevant experimental PSC model. CCL24-neutralizing monoclonal antibody, CM-101, significantly improved inflammation, fibrosis, and cholestasis-related markers in the biliary area. Moreover, using spatial transcriptomics, we observed reduced proliferation and senescence of cholangiocytes following CCL24 neutralization. Next, we demonstrated that CCL24 expression was elevated under pro-fibrotic conditions in primary human cholangiocytes and macrophages, and it induced proliferation of primary human hepatic stellate cells and cholangiocytes, which was attenuated following CCL24 inhibition. Correspondingly, CCL24 was found to be highly expressed in liver biopsies of patients with PSC. CCL24 serum levels correlated with Enhanced Liver Fibrosis score, most notably in patients with high alkaline phosphatase levels. These results suggest that blocking CCL24 may have a therapeutic effect in patients with PSC by reducing liver inflammation, fibrosis, and cholestasis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ophir Hay
- Gene Therapy Institute, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Avi Katav
- Chemomab Therapeutics Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Omer Levi
- Chemomab Therapeutics Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ilan Vaknin
- Chemomab Therapeutics Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | | | - Tom Snir
- Chemomab Therapeutics Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Inbal Mishalian
- Gene Therapy Institute, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Devorah Olam
- Gene Therapy Institute, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Johnny Amer
- Institute of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ahmad Salhab
- Institute of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Rifaat Safadi
- Institute of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yaakov Maor
- Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Palak Trivedi
- National Institute for Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Unit and Centre for Liver Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher J Weston
- National Institute for Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Unit and Centre for Liver Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Francesca Saffioti
- University College London Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, United Kingdom
- Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Hall
- University College London Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, United Kingdom
- Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Massimo Pinzani
- University College London Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, United Kingdom
- Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Douglas Thorburn
- University College London Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, United Kingdom
- Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Amnon Peled
- Gene Therapy Institute, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Adi Mor
- Chemomab Therapeutics Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel
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Segal-Salto M, Barashi N, Katav A, Edelshtein V, Aharon A, Hashmueli S, George J, Maor Y, Pinzani M, Haberman D, Hall A, Friedman S, Mor A. A blocking monoclonal antibody to CCL24 alleviates liver fibrosis and inflammation in experimental models of liver damage. JHEP Rep 2020; 2:100064. [PMID: 32039405 PMCID: PMC7005554 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2019.100064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Revised: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background & Aims C-C motif chemokine ligand 24 (CCL24) is a chemokine that regulates inflammatory and fibrotic activities through its receptor, C-C motif chemokine receptor (CCR3). The aim of the study was to evaluate the involvement of the CCL24-CCR3 axis in liver fibrosis and inflammation and to assess the potential of its blockade, by a monoclonal anti-CCL24 antibody, as a therapeutic strategy for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis. Methods Expression of CCL24 and CCR3 was evaluated in liver biopsies and blood samples. CCL24 involvement in NAFLD/NASH pathogenesis was assessed in Ccl24 knockout mouse using the methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet experimental model. Antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects of CM-101 were tested in the MCD and STAM mouse models and in the thioacetamide (TAA) model in rats. Liver enzymes, liver morphology, histology and collagen deposition, as well as fibrosis- and inflammation-related protein expression were assessed. Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) was evaluated in the human LX2 cell line. Results Patients with NASH and advanced NAFLD exhibited significant expression of both CCL24 and CCR3 in liver and blood samples. In the experimental MCD-diet model, Ccl24 knockout mice showed an attenuated liver damage response compared to wild-type mice, exhibiting reduced histological NAFLD activity scores and fibrosis, as well as lower levels of liver enzymes. Blocking CCL24 using CM-101 robustly reduced liver damage in 3 experimental animal models (MCD, STAM and TAA), as demonstrated by attenuation of liver fibrosis and NAFLD activity score. Furthermore, blocking CCL24 by CM-101 significantly inhibited CCL24-induced HSC motility, α-SMA expression and pro-collagen I secretion. Conclusion Our results reveal that blocking CCL24 significantly attenuates liver fibrosis and inflammation and may have a potential therapeutic effect in patients with NASH and/or liver fibrosis. Lay summary CCL24 is a chemokine that regulates inflammation and fibrosis. It was found to be significantly expressed in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, in whom it regulates profibrotic processes in the liver. Herein, we show that blockade of CCL24 using a monoclonal antibody robustly attenuated liver fibrosis and inflammation in animal models, thus suggesting a potential therapeutic role for an anti-CCL24 agent. CCL24 is a chemokine that regulates inflammatory and fibrotic activities through its receptor, CCR3. Significant expression of CCL24 and CCR3 were found in liver biopsies and blood samples from patients with NAFLD/NASH. CM-101, a monoclonal antibody that selectively targets CCL24, significantly attenuates fibrotic and inflammatory processes. Blocking CCL24 may have a potential therapeutic effect in NASH and liver fibrosis.
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Key Words
- ALT, alanine aminotransferase
- AST, aspartate aminotransferase
- Antibody
- C-C motif chemokine ligand 24
- CCL24
- CCL24, C-C motif chemokine ligand 24
- CCR3, C-C motif chemokine receptor 3
- CM-101
- Fibrosis
- HSCs, hepatic stellate cells
- IL-6, interleukin-6
- MCD, methionine-choline deficient
- MFI, median fluorescence intensity
- MMP, matrix metallopeptidase
- NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- NAS, NAFLD activity score
- NASH, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
- PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- TAA, thioacetamide
- WT, wild-type
- α-SMA, α-smooth muscle actin
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Jacob George
- Heart Center, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Affiliated to the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yaakov Maor
- Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Massimo Pinzani
- UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, University College of London, London, UK.,Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Dan Haberman
- Heart Center, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Affiliated to the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Andrew Hall
- UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, University College of London, London, UK.,Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Scott Friedman
- Division of Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, USA
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Segal-Salto M, Hansson K, Sapir T, Kaplan A, Levy T, Schweizer M, Frotscher M, James P, Reiner O. Proteomics insights into infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (CLN1) point to the involvement of cilia pathology in the disease. Hum Mol Genet 2017; 26:1678. [PMID: 28334871 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddx074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Mutations in the depalmitoylation enzyme, palmitoyl protein thioesterase (PPT1), result in the early onset neurodegenerative disease known as Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis. Here, we provide proteomic evidence suggesting that PPT1 deficiency could be considered as a ciliopathy. Analysis of membrane proteins from brain enriched for acylated proteins from neonate Ppt1 knock out and control mice revealed a list of 88 proteins with differential expression levels. Amongst them, we identified Rab3IP, which regulates ciliogenesis in concert with Rab8 and Rab11. Immunostaining analysis revealed that PPT1 is localized in the cilia. Indeed, an unbiased proteomics analysis on isolated cilia revealed 660 proteins, which differed in their abundance levels between wild type and Ppt1 knock out. We demonstrate here that Rab3IP, Rab8 and Rab11 are palmitoylated, and that palmitoylation of Rab11 is required for correct intracellular localization. Cells and brain preparations from Ppt1-/- mice exhibited fewer cells with cilia and abnormally longer cilia, with both acetylated tubulin and Rab3IP wrongly distributed along the length of cilia. Most importantly, the analysis revealed a difference in the distribution and levels of the modified proteins in cilia in the retina of mutant mice versus the wildtype, which may be important in the early neurodegenerative phenotype. Overall, our results suggest a novel link between palmitoylated proteins, cilial organization and the pathophysiology of Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Segal-Salto
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Karin Hansson
- Department of Immunotechnology, Lund University, Medicon Village, Lund, Sweden and BTK, Åbo Academy University, Turku, Finland
| | - Tamar Sapir
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Anna Kaplan
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Talia Levy
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Michaela Schweizer
- Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Frotscher
- Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Peter James
- Department of Immunotechnology, Lund University, Medicon Village, Lund, Sweden and BTK, Åbo Academy University, Turku, Finland
| | - Orly Reiner
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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Segal-Salto M, Sapir T, Reiner O. Reversible Cysteine Acylation Regulates the Activity of Human Palmitoyl-Protein Thioesterase 1 (PPT1). PLoS One 2016; 11:e0146466. [PMID: 26731412 PMCID: PMC4701722 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2015] [Accepted: 12/17/2015] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Mutations in the depalmitoylating enzyme gene, PPT1, cause the infantile form of Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (NCL), an early onset neurodegenerative disease. During recent years there have been different therapeutic attempts including enzyme replacement. Here we show that PPT1 is palmitoylated in vivo and is a substrate for two palmitoylating enzymes, DHHC3 and DHHC7. The palmitoylated protein is detected in both cell lysates and medium. The presence of PPT1 with palmitoylated signal peptide in the cell medium suggests that a subset of the protein is secreted by a nonconventional mechanism. Using a mutant form of PPT1, C6S, which was not palmitoylated, we further demonstrate that palmitoylation does not affect intracellular localization but rather that the unpalmitoylated form enhanced the depalmitoylation activity of the protein. The calculated Vmax of the enzyme was significantly affected by the palmitoylation, suggesting that the addition of a palmitate group is reminiscent of adding a noncompetitive inhibitor. Thus, we reveal the existence of a positive feedback loop, where palmitoylation of PPT1 results in decreased activity and subsequent elevation in the amount of palmitoylated proteins. This positive feedback loop is likely to initiate a vicious cycle, which will enhance disease progression. The understanding of this process may facilitate enzyme replacement strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Segal-Salto
- The Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
| | - Tamar Sapir
- The Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
| | - Orly Reiner
- The Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
- * E-mail:
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Greenman R, Gorelik A, Sapir T, Baumgart J, Zamor V, Segal-Salto M, Levin-Zaidman S, Aidinis V, Aoki J, Nitsch R, Vogt J, Reiner O. Non-cell autonomous and non-catalytic activities of ATX in the developing brain. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:53. [PMID: 25788872 PMCID: PMC4349085 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2014] [Accepted: 02/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The intricate formation of the cerebral cortex requires a well-coordinated series of events, which are regulated at the level of cell-autonomous and non-cell autonomous mechanisms. Whereas cell-autonomous mechanisms that regulate cortical development are well-studied, the non-cell autonomous mechanisms remain poorly understood. A non-biased screen allowed us to identify Autotaxin (ATX) as a non-cell autonomous regulator of neural stem cells. ATX (also known as ENPP2) is best known to catalyze lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) production. Our results demonstrate that ATX affects the localization and adhesion of neuronal progenitors in a cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous manner, and strikingly, this activity is independent from its catalytic activity in producing LPA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raanan Greenman
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
| | - Anna Gorelik
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
| | - Tamar Sapir
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
| | - Jan Baumgart
- University Medical Center, Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz Mainz, Germany ; Central Laboratory Animal Facility, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz Mainz, Germany
| | - Vanessa Zamor
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
| | - Michal Segal-Salto
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
| | - Smadar Levin-Zaidman
- Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
| | - Vassilis Aidinis
- Division of Immunology, Biomedical Sciences Research Center 'Alexander Fleming' Athens, Greece
| | - Junken Aoki
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University Miyagi, Japan
| | - Robert Nitsch
- University Medical Center, Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz Mainz, Germany
| | - Johannes Vogt
- University Medical Center, Institute for Microscopic Anatomy and Neurobiology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz Mainz, Germany
| | - Orly Reiner
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel
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