Project description:Liver fibrosis is a reversible wound-healing response to liver injury and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are central cellular players that mediate hepatic fibrogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern this process remain unclear. Here, we reveal a novel cistromic circuit in HSCs comprising the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and SMAD transcription factors that restrains the intensity of hepatic fibrogenesis. Ligand-activated VDR suppresses TGFβ1-induced pro-fibrotic gene expression in HSCs. Administration of a vitamin D analogue, calcipotriol, diminishes the fibrotic response in a mouse model of liver fibrosis, while VDR knockout mice spontaneous develop extensive hepatic fibrosis by age 6 months. Using ChIP-Seq, we find that the anti-fibrotic properties of VDR are due to crosstalk with SMAD, mediated by their co-occupancy of DNA-binding sites on pro-fibrotic genes. Specifically, SMAD binding potentiates local chromatin accessibility to enhance VDR recruitment at the same cis-regulatory elements, which reciprocally antagonizes the interaction between SMAD3 and chromatin and limits the assembly of transcriptional activation complexes at fibrotic genes, a process that is enhanced by the presence of VDR agonists. These results not only establish this coordinated VDR/SMAD cistromic circuit as a master regulator of hepatic fibrogenesis, but also support VDR as a potential drug target to ameliorate liver fibrosis. Identification of VDR, SMAD3 and H3 binding sites in human stellate LX2 cells that were pre-treated with calcipotriol (100nM) for 16 hrs (where calcipotriol treatment is indicated) followed by incubation of calcipotriol (100nM) or TGFβ1 (1ng/ml) for another 4 hours (where indicated).
Project description:Liver fibrosis is a reversible wound-healing response to liver injury and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are central cellular players that mediate hepatic fibrogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern this process remain unclear. Expression profiling was used to explore the potential impact of VDR signaling in TGF?1 and TGF?1+1,25(OH)2D3-treated primary rat HSCs. Notably, 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment attenuated the culture-induced activation of HSCs, such that the transcriptome of treated cells closely resembled that of freshly isolated quiescent cells (Figure 2A), and co-treatment of 1,25(OH)2D3 together with TGF? resulted in considerable repression of a large set of TGF? induced genes. We also demonstrated that in primary mouse HSCs, calcipotriol potently repressed fibrotic gene expression, suggesting that the anti-TGF? properties of VDR agonists are likely conserved across mammalian species. Total RNA from primary rat HSCs were isolated and treated 1,25(OH)2D3 (100nM) for 24 hours to determine how Vitamin D ligands can impact the activated stellate cell state.
Project description:Liver fibrosis is a reversible wound-healing response to liver injury and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are central cellular players that mediate hepatic fibrogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern this process remain unclear. Here, we reveal a novel cistromic circuit in HSCs comprising the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and SMAD transcription factors that restrains the intensity of hepatic fibrogenesis. Ligand-activated VDR suppresses TGFβ1-induced pro-fibrotic gene expression in HSCs. Administration of a vitamin D analogue, calcipotriol, diminishes the fibrotic response in a mouse model of liver fibrosis, while VDR knockout mice spontaneous develop extensive hepatic fibrosis by age 6 months. Using ChIP-Seq, we find that the anti-fibrotic properties of VDR are due to crosstalk with SMAD, mediated by their co-occupancy of DNA-binding sites on pro-fibrotic genes. Specifically, SMAD binding potentiates local chromatin accessibility to enhance VDR recruitment at the same cis-regulatory elements, which reciprocally antagonizes the interaction between SMAD3 and chromatin and limits the assembly of transcriptional activation complexes at fibrotic genes, a process that is enhanced by the presence of VDR agonists. These results not only establish this coordinated VDR/SMAD cistromic circuit as a master regulator of hepatic fibrogenesis, but also support VDR as a potential drug target to ameliorate liver fibrosis.
Project description:Liver fibrosis is a reversible wound-healing response to liver injury and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are central cellular players that mediate hepatic fibrogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern this process remain unclear. Expression profiling was used to explore the potential impact of VDR signaling in TGFβ1 and TGFβ1+1,25(OH)2D3-treated primary rat HSCs. Notably, 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment attenuated the culture-induced activation of HSCs, such that the transcriptome of treated cells closely resembled that of freshly isolated quiescent cells (Figure 2A), and co-treatment of 1,25(OH)2D3 together with TGFβ resulted in considerable repression of a large set of TGFβ induced genes. We also demonstrated that in primary mouse HSCs, calcipotriol potently repressed fibrotic gene expression, suggesting that the anti-TGFβ properties of VDR agonists are likely conserved across mammalian species.