Loss of ELK1 has differential effects on age-dependent organ fibrosis.

ABSTRACT: ETS domain-containing protein-1 (ELK1) is a transcription factor important in regulating αvβ6 integrin expression. αvβ6 integrins activate the profibrotic cytokine Transforming Growth Factor β1 (TGFβ1) and are increased in the alveolar epithelium in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). IPF is a disease associated with aging and therefore we hypothesised that aged animals lacking Elk1 globally would develop spontaneous fibrosis in organs where αvβ6 mediated TGFβ activation has been implicated. Here we identify that Elk1-knockout (Elk1^-/0) mice aged to one year developed spontaneous fibrosis in the absence of injury in both the lung and the liver but not in the heart or kidneys. The lungs of Elk1^-/0 aged mice demonstrated increased collagen deposition, in particular col

SUBMITTER: Cairns JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9364830 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature