Over the last several years, one of the major advances in the field of alcoholic liver disease research was the discovery that binge alcohol consumption induced neutrophilia and hepatic neutrophil infiltration in chronically ethanol-fed mice and human subjects with excessive alcohol use (EAU); however, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Here, we demonstrated that chronic EAU patients with a history of recent excessive drinking (EAU + RD) had higher serum levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-enriched microparticles (MPs) than EAU without recent drinking (EAU – RD) and healthy controls, which correlated positively with circulating neutrophils. Similarly, mice with chronic-plus-binge (E10d + 1B) ethanol feeding also had markedly elevated serum levels of mtDNA-enriched MPs, with activation of hepatic ER stress and inflammatory responses. Inhibition of ER stress by gene KO or inhibitors attenuated ethanol-induced elevation of mtDNA-enriched MPs, neutrophilia, and liver injury. The data from the study of hepatocyte-specific deletion of the protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (Perk) gene in mice and of cultured hepatocytes demonstrated that hepatocytes were the main source of mtDNA-enriched MPs after ethanol feeding. Finally, administration of mtDNA-enriched MPs isolated from E10d+1B-fed mice caused neutrophilia in mice. In conclusion, E10d + 1B ethanol consumption activates hepatic ER stress–dependent mtDNA-enriched MP release, leading to neutrophilia and liver injury.
Yan Cai, Ming-Jiang Xu, Erik H. Koritzinsky, Zhou Zhou, Wei Wang, Haixia Cao, Peter S.T. Yuen, Ruth A. Ross, Robert A. Star, Suthat Liangpunsakul, Bin Gao
Fibrosis results from the dysregulation of tissue repair mechanisms affecting major organ systems, leading to chronic extracellular matrix buildup, and progressive, often fatal, organ failure. Current diagnosis relies on invasive biopsies. Noninvasive methods today cannot distinguish actively progressive fibrogenesis from stable scar, and thus are insensitive for monitoring disease activity or therapeutic responses. Collagen oxidation is a universal signature of active fibrogenesis that precedes collagen crosslinking. Biochemically targeting oxidized lysine residues formed by the action of lysyl oxidase on collagen with a small-molecule gadolinium chelate enables targeted molecular magnetic resonance imaging. This noninvasive direct biochemical elucidation of the fibrotic microenvironment specifically and robustly detected and staged pulmonary and hepatic fibrosis progression, and monitored therapeutic response in animal models. Furthermore, this paradigm is translatable and generally applicable to diverse fibroproliferative disorders.
Howard H. Chen, Philip A. Waghorn, Lan Wei, Luis F. Tapias, Daniel T. Schühle, Nicholas J. Rotile, Chloe M. Jones, Richard J. Looby, Gaofeng Zhao, Justin M. Elliott, Clemens K. Probst, Mari Mino-Kenudson, Gregory Y. Lauwers, Andrew M. Tager, Kenneth K. Tanabe, Michael Lanuti, Bryan C. Fuchs, Peter Caravan
Cholesterol accumulation in the liver is an early event in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Here, we demonstrate that E2F1 plays a crucial role in maintaining cellular cholesterol homeostasis by regulating cholesterol uptake via proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9 (PCSK9), an enzyme that promotes low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) degradation upon activation.
Qiuwen Lai, Albert Giralt, Cédric Le May, Lianjun Zhang, Bertrand Cariou, Pierre-Damien Denechaud, Lluis Fajas
Mechanisms of bile acid–induced (BA-induced) liver injury in cholestasis are controversial, limiting development of new therapies. We examined how BAs initiate liver injury using isolated liver cells from humans and mice and in-vivo mouse models. At pathophysiologic concentrations, BAs induced proinflammatory cytokine expression in mouse and human hepatocytes, but not in nonparenchymal cells or cholangiocytes. These hepatocyte-specific cytokines stimulated neutrophil chemotaxis. Inflammatory injury was mitigated in
Shi-Ying Cai, Xinshou Ouyang, Yonglin Chen, Carol J. Soroka, Juxian Wang, Albert Mennone, Yucheng Wang, Wajahat Z. Mehal, Dhanpat Jain, James L. Boyer
Liver X receptors (LXRs) are transcription factors essential for cholesterol homeostasis and lipogenesis. LXRα has been implicated in regulating hepatic triglyceride (TG) accumulation upon both influx of adipose-derived fatty acids (FAs) during fasting and stimulation of de novo FA synthesis by chemical agonism of LXR. However, whether or not a convergent mechanism is employed to drive deposition of FAs from these 2 different sources in TGs is undetermined. Here, we report that the G0/G1 Switch Gene 2 (G0S2), a selective inhibitor of intracellular TG hydrolysis/lipolysis, is a direct target gene of LXRα. Transcriptional activation is conferred by LXRα binding to a direct repeat 4 (DR4) motif in the G0S2 promoter. While LXRα–/– mice exhibited decreased hepatic G0S2 expression, adenoviral expression of G0S2 was sufficient to restore fasting-induced TG storage and glycogen depletion in the liver of these mice. In response to LXR agonist T0901317, G0S2 ablation prevented hepatic steatosis and hypertriglyceridemia without affecting the beneficial effects on HDL. Thus, the LXRα-G0S2 axis plays a distinct role in regulating hepatic TG during both fasting and pharmacological activation of LXR.
Bradlee L. Heckmann, Xiaodong Zhang, Alicia M. Saarinen, Gabriele Schoiswohl, Erin E. Kershaw, Rudolf Zechner, Jun Liu
Hepatic fibrosis arises from inflammation in the liver initiated by resident macrophage activation and massive leukocyte accumulation. Hepatic macrophages hold a central position in maintaining homeostasis in the liver and in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic liver injury linked to fibrogenesis. Interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) has recently emerged as an important proinflammatory transcription factor involved in macrophage activation under acute and chronic inflammation. Here, we revealed that IRF5 is significantly induced in liver macrophages from human subjects developing liver fibrosis from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or hepatitis C virus infection. Furthermore, IRF5 expression positively correlated with clinical markers of liver damage, such as plasma transaminase and bilirubin levels. Interestingly, mice lacking IRF5 in myeloid cells (MKO) were protected from hepatic fibrosis induced by metabolic or toxic stresses. Transcriptional reprogramming of macrophages lacking IRF5 was characterized by immunosuppressive and antiapoptotic properties. Consequently, IRF5 MKO mice respond to hepatocellular stress by promoting hepatocyte survival, leading to complete protection from hepatic fibrogenesis. Our findings reveal a regulatory network, governed by IRF5, that mediates hepatocyte death and liver fibrosis in mice and humans. Therefore, modulating IRF5 function may be an attractive approach to experimental therapeutics in fibroinflammatory liver disease.
Fawaz Alzaid, Floriane Lagadec, Miguel Albuquerque, Raphaëlle Ballaire, Lucie Orliaguet, Isabelle Hainault, Corinne Blugeon, Sophie Lemoine, Agnès Lehuen, David G. Saliba, Irina A. Udalova, Valérie Paradis, Fabienne Foufelle, Nicolas Venteclef
A barrier to drug development for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the absence of translational preclinical human-relevant systems. An in vitro liver model was engineered to incorporate hepatic sinusoidal flow, transport, and lipotoxic stress risk factors (glucose, insulin, free fatty acids) with cocultured primary human hepatocytes, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), and macrophages. Transcriptomic, lipidomic, and functional endpoints were evaluated and compared with clinical data from NASH patient biopsies. The lipotoxic milieu promoted hepatocyte lipid accumulation (4-fold increase,
Ryan E. Feaver, Banumathi K. Cole, Mark J. Lawson, Stephen A. Hoang, Svetlana Marukian, Brett R. Blackman, Robert A. Figler, Arun J. Sanyal, Brian R. Wamhoff, Ajit Dash
Aberrant wnt/β-catenin signaling and amplification/overexpression of Myc are associated with hepatoblastoma (HB), the most prevalent type of childhood liver cancer. To address their roles in the pathogenesis of HB, we generated mice in which Myc and mutant β-catenin were targeted to immature cells of the developing mouse liver. Perinatal coexpression of both genes promoted the preferential development of HBs over other tumor types in neonatal mice, all of which bore striking resemblance to their human counterparts. Integrated analysis indicated that tumors emerged as a consequence of Myc-driven alterations in hepatoblast fate in a background of pan-hepatic injury, inflammation, and nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2/Nrf2-dependent antioxidant signaling, which was specifically associated with expression of mutant β-catenin but not Myc. Immunoprofiling of human HBs confirmed that approximately 50% of tumors demonstrated aberrant activation of either Myc or Nfe2l2/Nrf2, while knockdown of Nrf2 in a cell line–derived from a human HB with
Sarah A. Comerford, Elizabeth A. Hinnant, Yidong Chen, Hima Bansal, Shawn Klapproth, Dinesh Rakheja, Milton J. Finegold, Dolores Lopez-Terrada, Kathryn A. O’Donnell, Gail E. Tomlinson, Robert E. Hammer
The prevalence of fatty liver reaches alarming proportions. Fatty liver increases the risk for insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Although extensively studied in a preclinical setting, the lack of noninvasive methodologies hampers our understanding of which pathways promote hepatic fat accumulation in humans. Dietary fat retention is one of the pathways that may lead to fatty liver. The low (1.1%) natural abundance (NA) of carbon-13 (13C) allows use of 13C-enriched lipids for in vivo MR studies. Successful implementation of such methodology, however, is challenging due to low sensitivity of 13C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C-MRS). Here, we investigated the use of 1-dimensional gradient enhanced heteronuclear single quantum coherence (ge-HSQC) spectroscopy for the in vivo detection of hepatic 1H-[13C]-lipid signals after a single high-fat meal with 13C-labeled fatty acids in 5 lean and 6 obese subjects. Postprandial retention of orally administered 13C-labeled fatty acids was significant (
Lucas Lindeboom, Robin A. de Graaf, Christine I. Nabuurs, Petronella A. van Ewijk, Matthijs K.C. Hesselink, Joachim E. Wildberger, Patrick Schrauwen, Vera B. Schrauwen-Hinderling
Liver fibrosis, a consequence of chronic liver injury and a way station to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, lacks effective treatment. Endocannabinoids acting via cannabinoid-1 receptors (CB1R) induce profibrotic gene expression and promote pathologies that predispose to liver fibrosis. CB1R antagonists produce opposite effects, but their therapeutic development was halted due to neuropsychiatric side effects. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) also promotes liver fibrosis and its underlying pathologies, but iNOS inhibitors tested to date showed limited therapeutic efficacy in inflammatory diseases. Here, we introduce a peripherally restricted, orally bioavailable CB1R antagonist, which accumulates in liver to release an iNOS inhibitory leaving group. In mouse models of fibrosis induced by CCl4 or bile duct ligation, the hybrid CB1R/iNOS antagonist surpassed the antifibrotic efficacy of the CB1R antagonist rimonabant or the iNOS inhibitor 1400W, without inducing anxiety-like behaviors or CB1R occupancy in the CNS. The hybrid inhibitor also targeted CB1R-independent, iNOS-mediated profibrotic pathways, including increased PDGF, Nlrp3/Asc3, and integrin αvβ6 signaling, as judged by its ability to inhibit these pathways in cnr1–/– but not in nos2–/– mice. Additionally, it was able to slow fibrosis progression and to attenuate established fibrosis. Thus, dual-target peripheral CB1R/iNOS antagonists have therapeutic potential in liver fibrosis.
Resat Cinar, Malliga R. Iyer, Ziyi Liu, Zongxian Cao, Tony Jourdan, Katalin Erdelyi, Grzegorz Godlewski, Gergő Szanda, Jie Liu, Joshua K. Park, Bani Mukhopadhyay, Avi Z. Rosenberg, Jeih-San Lieow, Robin G. Lorenz, Pal Pacher, Robert B. Innis, George Kunos
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