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Do KK, Wang F, Sun X, Zhang Y, Liang W, Liu JY, Jiang DY, Lu X, Wang W, Zhang L, Dean DC, Liu Y. Conditional deletion of Zeb1 in Csf1r + cells reduces inflammatory response of the cornea to alkali burn. iScience 2024; 27:109694. [PMID: 38660397 PMCID: PMC11039400 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109694] [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] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
ZEB1 is an essential factor in embryonic development. In adults, it is often highly expressed in malignant tumors with low expression in normal tissues. The major biological function of ZEB1 in developing embryos and progressing cancers is to transdifferentiate cells from an epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype; but what roles ZEB1 plays in normal adult tissues are largely unknown. We previously reported that the reduction of Zeb1 in monoallelic global knockout (Zeb1+/-) mice reduced corneal inflammation-associated neovascularization following alkali burn. To uncover the cellular mechanism underlying the Zeb1 regulation of corneal inflammation, we functionally deleted Zeb1 alleles in Csf1r+ myeloid cells using a conditional knockout (cKO) strategy and found that Zeb1 cKO reduced leukocytes in the cornea after alkali burn. The reduction of immune cells was due to their increased apoptotic rate and linked to a Zeb1-downregulated apoptotic pathway. We conclude that Zeb1 facilitates corneal inflammatory response by maintaining Csf1r+ cell viability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khoi K. Do
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Fuhua Wang
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- Eye Institute and Eye Hospital of Shangdong First Medical University, Jinan 250021, China
| | - Xiaolei Sun
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- Eye Institute and Eye Hospital of Shangdong First Medical University, Jinan 250021, China
| | - Yingnan Zhang
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- The Rosenberg School of Optometry, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
| | - Wei Liang
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, Third People’s Hospital of Dalian, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116033, China
| | - John Y. Liu
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Daniel Y. Jiang
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Xiaoqin Lu
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Lijun Zhang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Third People’s Hospital of Dalian, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116033, China
| | - Douglas C. Dean
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Yongqing Liu
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
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Zhang Y, Do KK, Wang F, Lu X, Liu JY, Li C, Ceresa BP, Zhang L, Dean DC, Liu Y. Zeb1 facilitates corneal epithelial wound healing by maintaining corneal epithelial cell viability and mobility. Commun Biol 2023; 6:434. [PMID: 37081200 PMCID: PMC10119281 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04831-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The cornea is the outmost ocular tissue and plays an important role in protecting the eye from environmental insults. Corneal epithelial wounding provokes pain and fear and contributes to the most ocular trauma emergency assessments worldwide. ZEB1 is an essential transcription factor in development; but its roles in adult tissues are not clear. We identify Zeb1 is an intrinsic factor that facilitates corneal epithelial wound healing. In this study, we demonstrate that monoallelic deletion of Zeb1 significantly expedites corneal cell death and inhibits corneal epithelial EMT-related cell migration upon an epithelial debridement. We provide evidence that Zeb1-regulation of corneal epithelial wound healing is through the repression of genes required for Tnfa-induced epithelial cell death and the induction of genes beneficial for epithelial cell migration. We suggest utilizing TNF-α antagonists would reduce TNF/TNFR1-induced cell death in the corneal epithelium and inflammation in the corneal stroma to help corneal wound healing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingnan Zhang
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
- The Rosenberg School of Optometry, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA
| | - Khoi K Do
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
| | - Fuhua Wang
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
- Eye Institute and Eye Hospital of Shangdong First Medical University, 250021, Jinan, China
| | - Xiaoqin Lu
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
| | - John Y Liu
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
| | - Chi Li
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
| | - Brian P Ceresa
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
| | - Lijun Zhang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Third People's Hospital of Dalian, Dalian Medical University, 116033, Dalian, China
| | - Douglas C Dean
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
| | - Yongqing Liu
- Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
- James Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
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