To examine the expression of Sulf1 and Sulf2, as well as other glycan-related genes, in human Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) lungs compared to normal lung samples
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ABSTRACT: Microarray analysis to examine glycan-related gene expression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Heparan sulfate 6-O-endosulfatases (Sulf1 and Sulf2) remove 6-O sulfate groups from heparan sulfate intra-chain sites on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix, and modulate the functions of many growth factors and morphogens including FGF, Wnt and TGF-beta. Works from our laboratory have shown that TGF-beta 1 induces Sulf1 and Sulf2 expression in a cell-type specific manner in the lung, specifically Sulf1 in lung fibroblasts and Sulf2 in type II alveolar epithelial cells. Interestingly TGF-beta 1-induced Sulf1 and Sulf2 in turn modulate TGF-beta 1 function in culture. The aim of this study is to examine the expression of Sulf1 and Sulf2 as well as other glycan-related genes (heparan biosynthetic enzymes, TGF-beta, FGF and Wnt signaling pathway components) in human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) lungs compared to normal lung samples. We will examine gene expression in triplicate samples from RNA of total lung homogenates from IPF and control (normal) lungs
Project description:Microarray analysis to examine glycan-related gene expression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Heparan sulfate 6-O-endosulfatases (Sulf1 and Sulf2) remove 6-O sulfate groups from heparan sulfate intra-chain sites on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix, and modulate the functions of many growth factors and morphogens including FGF, Wnt and TGF-beta. Works from our laboratory have shown that TGF-beta 1 induces Sulf1 and Sulf2 expression in a cell-type specific manner in the lung, specifically Sulf1 in lung fibroblasts and Sulf2 in type II alveolar epithelial cells. Interestingly TGF-beta 1-induced Sulf1 and Sulf2 in turn modulate TGF-beta 1 function in culture.
Project description:Betaglycan/type III TGF-β receptor (TGFBR3) is an established co-receptor for the TGF-β superfamily with direct binding demonstrated for TGF-β 1-3 and inhibin A. Betaglycan can be membrane-bound or have its ectodomain cleaved/ shed to produce soluble-betaglycan that has been demonstrated to sequester ligands. Extracellular domain of betaglycan is modified with glycosaminoglycan chains at Ser residues S534 and S545, to which heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate chains are covalently attached. To delineate the contribution of the heparan and chondroitin sulfate modifications on betaglycan on its shedding and thereby on TGF-β signaling in ovarian cancer biology, we used mutants of betaglycan with alterations to the different glycosaminoglycan modifications. We made the unexpected discovery that the heparan sulfate modifications are essential for maximum ectodomain shedding of betaglycan, which is further essential for the ability of betaglycan to suppress TGF-β signaling and the tumor cells responses to exogenous TGF-β ligand. Using unbiased transcriptomics, we identified TIMP3 as a key regulator of betaglycan shedding and thereby TGF-β signaling. Taken together, these studies are the first to demonstrate a critical link between the well-known modifications on betaglycan and TGF-β signaling responses.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a complex disease of unknown etiology. Environmental factors can affect disease susceptibility via epigenetic effects. Few studies explore global DNA methylation in lung fibroblasts, but none have focused on transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-b1) as a potential modifier of the DNA methylome. Here we analyzed changes in methylation and gene transcription in normal and IPF fibroblasts following TGF-b1 treatment.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a complex disease of unknown etiology. Environmental factors can affect disease susceptibility via epigenetic effects. Few studies explore global DNA methylation in lung fibroblasts, but none have focused on transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-b1) as a potential modifier of the DNA methylome. Here we analyzed changes in methylation and gene transcription in normal and IPF fibroblasts following TGF-b1 treatment.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by devastating and progressive lung parenchymal fibrosis with poor prognosis. An aberrant recapitulation of lung developmental genes including transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and WNT has been widely implicated in the abnormal wound healing process following repetitive alveolar epithelial injury during IPF pathogenesis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes and microvesicles have been shown to carry various bioactive molecules and are involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Here, we demonstrate that human bronchial epithelial cell-derived EVs (HBEC EVs) inhibited TGF-β-induced both myofibroblast differentiation and lung epithelial cellular senescence through attenuating WNT signaling. To ask how HBEC-EVs inhibited TGF-β-induced both myofibroblast differentiation and lung epithelial cellular senescence through attenuating WNT signaling, miRNA RNA-seq of HBEC-EVs was performed.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by devastating and progressive lung parenchymal fibrosis with poor prognosis. An aberrant recapitulation of lung developmental genes including transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and WNT has been widely implicated in the abnormal wound healing process following repetitive alveolar epithelial injury during IPF pathogenesis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes and microvesicles have been shown to carry various bioactive molecules and are involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Here, we demonstrate that human bronchial epithelial cell-derived EVs (HBEC EVs) inhibited TGF-β-induced both myofibroblast differentiation and lung epithelial cellular senescence through attenuating WNT signaling. To ask how HBEC-EVs inhibited TGF-β-induced both myofibroblast differentiation and lung epithelial cellular senescence through attenuating WNT signaling, miRNA RNA-seq of HBEC-EVs was performed.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a complex disease of unknown etiology. Environmental factors can affect disease susceptibility via epigenetic effects. Few studies explore global DNA methylation in lung fibroblasts, but none have focused on transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-b1) as a potential modifier of the DNA methylome. Here we analyzed changes in methylation and gene transcription in normal and IPF fibroblasts following TGF-b1 treatment.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the prototypic progressive fibrotic lung disease with a median survival of 2-4 years. Injury to and/or dysfunction of alveolar epithelium are strongly implicated in IPF disease initiation, but what factors determine why fibrosis progresses rather than normal tissue repair occurs remain poorly understood. We previously demonstrated that ZEB1-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells augments TGF-β-induced profibrogenic responses in underlying lung fibroblasts by paracrine signalling. Here we investigated bi-directional epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk and its potential to drive fibrosis progression. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of lung fibroblasts exposed to conditioned media from ATII cells undergoing RAS-induced EMT identified many differentially expressed genes including those involved in cell migration and extracellular matrix (ECM) regulation. We confirmed that paracrine signalling between AS-activated ATII cells and fibroblasts augmented fibroblast recruitment and demonstrated that this involved a ZEB1-tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) axis. In a reciprocal fashion, paracrine signalling from TGF-β-activated lung fibroblasts or IPF fibroblasts induced RAS activation in ATII cells, at least partially via the secreted protein, SPARC. Together these data identify that aberrant bi-directional epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk in IPF drives a chronic feedback loop that maintains a wound-healing phenotype and provides self-sustaining pro-fibrotic signals.
Project description:RATIONALE: Given the paucity of effective treatments for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), new insights into the deleterious mechanisms controlling lung fibroblast activation, the key cell type driving the fibrogenic process, are essential to develop new therapeutic strategies. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is the main pro-fibrotic factor, but its inhibition is associated with severe side effects due to its pleiotropic role. OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that downstream non-coding effectors of TGF-β in fibroblasts may represent new effective therapeutic targets whose modulation may be well-tolerated. METHODS: We investigated the whole non-coding fraction of TGF-β-stimulated lung fibroblast transcriptome to identify new genomic determinants of lung fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblast. Differential expression of the long non-coding RNA DNM3OS and its associated miRNAs was validated in a murine model of pulmonary fibrosis and in IPF tissue samples. Distinct and complementary antisense oligonucleotide-based strategies aiming at interfering with DNM3OS were used to elucidate the role of DNM3OS and its associated miRNAs in IPF pathogenesis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified DNM3OS as a fibroblast-specific critical downstream effector of TGF-β-induced lung myofibroblast activation. Mechanistically, DNM3OS regulates this process in trans by giving rise to three distinct profibrotic mature miRNAs (i.e. miR-199a-5p/3p and miR-214-3p), which influence both SMAD and non-SMAD components of TGF-β signaling in a multifaceted way. In vivo, we showed that interfering with DNM3OS function not only prevents lung fibrosis but also improves established pulmonary fibrosis. CONCLUSION: Pharmacological approaches aiming at interfering with DNM3OS may represent new effective therapeutic strategies in IPF. This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Project description:The mechanisms and molecular pathways underlying interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are poorly understood. Systems biology approaches were used to identify perturbed networks in these disease states to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease. Through profiling genes and miRNAs, we found subsets of genes and miRNAs that distinguish different disease stages, ILDs from controls, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) from non-specific interstitial pneumonitis (NSIP). Traditional pathway analysis revealed several disease-associated modules involving genes from the TGF-beta, Wnt, focal adhesion and smooth muscle actin pathways that may be involved in advancing fibrosis. A comprehensively integrative approach was used to construct a global gene regulatory network based on the perturbation of key regulatory elements, transcriptional factors and miRNAs. The data also demonstrated that several subnetworks were significantly associated with key molecules involved in the diseases. We present a broad overview of the disease at a molecular level and discuss several possibly key regulatory molecular circuits that could play central roles in facilitating the progression of ILDs. Lung tissue samples from 23 patients with IPF or related disorders were obtained from the Lung Tissue Research Consortium (www.ltrcpublic.org). 11 samples came from patients who had been diagnosed with usual interstitial pneumonia/ idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (UIP/IPF), 5 samples came from patients with non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP), the remaining from patients with uncharacterized fibrosis and from patients with other ILD variants. B. Biopsies from uninvolved lung tissue from lung cancer patients (5 samples) and from one lung transplant patient were used as controls for comparison with the ILD samples.