Project description:Orbital fibrosis is a hallmark of tissue remodeling in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). Previous studies have shown that interleukin (IL)-11 plays a pivotal profibrotic role in various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, the expression pattern of IL-11 in patients with TAO and whether IL-11 is mechanistically linked with pathological fibrosis remains unknown. In this study, we investigated IL-11 levels in the serum and orbital connective tissue of patients with TAO, and evaluated the correlation of these levels with the patient’s clinical activity score. We also evaluated the expression pattern of IL-11Rα in orbital connective tissue. Furthermore, we elucidated the regulatory factors, profibrotic function, and downstream signaling pathways for IL-11 in TAO using in vitro studies. Serum and orbital connective tissues IL-11 levels were increased in patients with TAO, as compared with healthy controls. In addition, both levels were positively correlated with disease activity. Single-cell RNA sequencing of orbital connective tissue indicated that IL-11Rα was dominantly expressed in orbital fibroblasts (OFs). RNA sequencing of paired unstimulated and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-stimulated samples demonstrated that upregulation of IL-11 expression defined the dominant transcriptional response. IL-11 signaling was also confirmed to be downstream of TGF-β1 and IL-1β. Therefore, we deduced that IL-11 protein is secreted in an autocrine loop in TAO. We also indicated that IL-11 mediated the profibrotic phenotype switch by detecting the expression of myofibroblast differentiation markers, including α-smooth muscle actin and collagen type I α1, which could be abrogated by an anti-IL-11 neutralizing antibody. Furthermore, we revealed that extracellular regulated protein kinase may be a crucial factor in the pro-fibrotic, translationally specific signaling activity of IL-11. These data demonstrate that IL-11 plays a crucial role in orbital fibroblast phenotype switching and may be a potential therapeutic target candidate for the treatment of TAO.

Project description:Background: Increased Galectin 3-binding protein (Lgals3bp) serum levels have been used to assess hepatic fibrosis stages and the severity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Considering the crucial role of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in the emergence of these diseases, the present study tested the hypothesis that Lgals3bp regulates the TGF-β1 signaling pathway. Methods: The expression levels of Lgals3bp and TGF-β1 were analyzed in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and HCC. Multiple omics techniques, such as RNA-sequencing, transposase-accessible chromatin-sequencing assay, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry proteomics, were used to identify the regulatory mechanisms for the Lgals3bp-TGF-β1 axis. Moreover, the effects of altered TGF-β1 signaling in chronic inflammatory conditions were investigated in conditional Lgals3bp-knockin and Lgals3bp-knockout mice. Results: In patients with NASH and HCC, the levels of Lgals3bp and TGF-β1 exhibited positive correlations. Stimulation of Lgals3bp by the inflammatory cytokine interferon α in HCC cells or ectopic overexpression of Lgals3bp in hepatocytes promoted the expression levels of TGFB1. Aggravated fibrosis was observed in the livers of hepatocyte-specific Lgals3bp knock-in mice, with increased TGF-β1 levels. Lgals3bp directly bound to and assembled integrin αV, an integral mediator required for releasing active TGF-β1 from extracellular latent complex with the rearranged F-actin cytoskeleton. The released TGF-β1 activated JunB transcription factor, which in turn promoted the TGF-β1 positive feedback loop. Lgals3bp deletion in the hepatocytes downregulated TGF-β1 signaling and CCl4 induced fibrosis. Finally, Lgals3bp depletion hindered hepatocarcinogenesis by limiting the availability of fibrogenic TGF-β1. Conclusion: Lgals3bp plays a crucial role in hepatic fibrosis and carcinogenesis by controlling the TGF-β1 signaling pathway, making it a promising therapeutic target in TGF-β1-related diseases.

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Dihydroartemisinin Exerts Antifibrotic and Anti-inflammatory Effects in Graves’ Ophthalmopathy by Targeting Orbital Fibroblasts

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