Systems-based identification of the Hippo pathway for promoting fibrotic mesenchymal differentiation in systemic sclerosis
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE249279 | GEO | 2023/12/06
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Skin and lung fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is driven by myofibroblasts, alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA) expressing cells that produce matrix as well as increase tension on surrounding tissues. Myofibroblast progenitors have been described to arise from a variety of cell types in murine fibrosis models, but relatively modest insight is available as to their source and differentiation in fibrotic human diseases. We utilize single cell RNA-sequencing to examine the transcriptome changes that occur in fibroblasts in SSc skin and during myofibroblast differentiation. We show that dermal myofibroblasts arise from an SFRP2/DPP4-expressing progenitor fibroblast population. In SSc skin, fibroblasts undergo global changes in gene expression, including SFRP2-expressing fibroblasts, which globally upregulate expression of markers, such as PRSS23 and THBS1. However, only a fraction of SSc fibroblasts differentiate into myofibroblasts, as shown by expression of additional markers, such as SFRP4 and FNDC1. These results indicate that myofibroblasts derive from a specific fibroblast subpopulation in SSc skin, that their differentiation proceeds in two stages and that other fibroblast populations also shift transcriptomes in SSc skin, suggesting a cytokine driven process. The myofibroblast transcriptome implicates upstream transcription factors that should help further unravel the drivers of myofibroblast differentiation.
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Project description:Myofibroblasts are key effector cells in the extracellular matrix remodeling of systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD), however the diversity of fibroblast populations present in the healthy and SSc-ILD lung is unknown, and has prevented the specific study of the myofibroblast transcriptome. We sought to identify and define the transcriptomes of myofibroblasts and other mesenchymal cell populations in human healthy and SSc-ILD lungs to understand how alterations in fibroblast phenotypes lead to SSc-ILD fibrosis.
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Project description:As a group, fibroproliferative disorders of the lung, liver, kidney, heart, vasculature and integument are common, progressive and refractory to therapy. They can emerge following toxic insults, but are frequently idiopathic. Their enigmatic propensity to resist therapy and progress to organ failure has focused attention on the myofibroblast – the primary effector of the fibroproliferative response. A central unanswered question is whether these myofibroblasts have acquired a distinct pathological phenotype - or whether they are normal myofibroblasts with a pathological phenotype that depends upon residing in a sea of pro-fibrotic cytokines and an abnormal extracellular matrix. Using a systems approach to study this question in a prototype fibrotic disease, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF); here we show organized changes in the gene expression pathway of primary lung myofibroblasts that persist for up to 9 sub-cultivations in vitro. When comparing IPF and control myofibroblasts in a 3-dimensional type I collagen matrix, more genes differed at the level of ribosome recruitment than at the level of transcript abundance, indicating pathological translational control as a major characteristic of IPF myofibroblasts. To determine the effect of matrix state on translational control, myofibroblasts were permitted to contract the matrix. Ribosome recruitment in control myofibroblasts was relatively stable. In contrast, IPF cells manifested large alterations in the ribosome recruitment pattern. Pathological studies suggest an epithelial origin for IPF myofibroblasts through the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). In accord with this, we found systems-level indications for TGF?b -driven EMT as one source of IPF myofibroblasts. Keywords: cell type comparison Comparison of lung myofibroblasts from patients with Idiopatic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF, 6 donors) to control (6 donors) in contractile and non-contractile matrices using both total and polyribosomal RNA
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Project description:Progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs accounts for the intractable nature and the high mortality of scleroderma. As the principal effector cells responsible for fibrosis, stromal fibroblasts and myofibroblasts contribute to excessive deposition of collagens and other extracellular matrix proteins. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), which stimulates collagen synthesis, myofibroblast differentiation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), is implicated as a key initiating factor in both physiological and pathological tissue remodeling. However, the mechanism responsible for the persistence of the fibrotic process associated with pathological repair remains poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the gene expression in dermal fibroblasts using different treatments (Poly I:C, IFN-beta, Egr-3 overexpression and other conditions).
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Project description:Renal fibrosis is a common pathological endpoint that is challenging to reverse in chronic kidney disease (CKD) independently of the underlying causes. Although myofibroblasts are mainly responsible for the accumulation of a fibrillar collagen-rich extracellular matrix (ECM), recent reports revealed their heterogeneity in proliferative and fibrotic activities, mirroring specific metabolic states that drive fibrosis. Here, we investigate the role of E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase WWP2 in the metabolic reprogramming of renal myofibroblasts in fibrosis. The tubulointerstitial expression of WWP2 contributes to the progression of fibrosis in CKD patients and in pre-clinical models of CKD. WWP2 deficiency leads to increased fatty acid oxidation, boosting mitochondrial respiration, promoting myofibroblast proliferation and arresting pro-fibrotic activation, thus ameliorating kidney fibrosis. Specifically, WWP2 suppresses the transcription of PGC-1α, which mediates the metabolic and proliferative changes in fibrotic myofibroblasts. Pharmacological intervention targeting PGC-1α reverses the pro-fibrotic effect of WWP2. These findings reveal a previously unappreciated WWP2-PGC-1α axis underlying the metabolic reprogramming of myofibroblasts during renal fibrosis, which could provide a new target for therapeutic intervention in CKD.
2024-02-05 | GSE241503 | GEO
Project description:Renal fibrosis is a common pathological endpoint that is challenging to reverse in chronic kidney disease (CKD) independently of the underlying causes. Although myofibroblasts are mainly responsible for the accumulation of a fibrillar collagen-rich extracellular matrix (ECM), recent reports revealed their heterogeneity in proliferative and fibrotic activities, mirroring specific metabolic states that drive fibrosis. Here, we investigate the role of E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase WWP2 in the metabolic reprogramming of renal myofibroblasts in fibrosis. The tubulointerstitial expression of WWP2 contributes to the progression of fibrosis in CKD patients and in pre-clinical models of CKD. WWP2 deficiency leads to increased fatty acid oxidation, boosting mitochondrial respiration, promoting myofibroblast proliferation and arresting pro-fibrotic activation, thus ameliorating kidney fibrosis. Specifically, WWP2 suppresses the transcription of PGC-1α, which mediates the metabolic and proliferative changes in fibrotic myofibroblasts. Pharmacological intervention targeting PGC-1α reverses the pro-fibrotic effect of WWP2. These findings reveal a previously unappreciated WWP2-PGC-1α axis underlying the metabolic reprogramming of myofibroblasts during renal fibrosis, which could provide a new target for therapeutic intervention in CKD.
2024-02-05 | GSE241502 | GEO
Project description:Transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) is a key mediator of fibroblast activation in fibrotic diseases including systemic sclerosis. Here we show that Engrailed 1 (EN1) is re-expressed in multiple fibroblast subpopulations in the skin of SSc patients. We characterize EN1 as a molecular amplifier of TGFβ signaling in myofibroblast differentiation: TGFβ induces EN1 expression in a SMAD3-dependent manner, and, in turn, EN1 mediates the pro-fibrotic effects of TGFβ. RNA sequencing demonstrates that EN1 induces a pro-fibrotic gene expression profile functionally related to the cytoskeleton organization and ROCK activation. EN1 regulates gene expression by modulating the activity of SP1 and other SP-transcription factors, as confirmed by ChIP-seq experiments for EN1 and SP1. Functional experiments confirm the coordinating role of EN1 on ROCK activity and the re-organization of cytoskeleton during myofibroblast differentiation both in standard fibroblast culture systems and in in vitro skin models. Consistently, mice with fibroblast-specific knockout of En1 demonstrate impaired fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition and are partially protected from experimental skin fibrosis.
2021-05-19 | GSE174598 | GEO
Project description:Transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) is a key mediator of fibroblast activation in fibrotic diseases including systemic sclerosis. Here we show that Engrailed 1 (EN1) is re-expressed in multiple fibroblast subpopulations in the skin of SSc patients. We characterize EN1 as a molecular amplifier of TGFβ signaling in myofibroblast differentiation: TGFβ induces EN1 expression in a SMAD3-dependent manner, and, in turn, EN1 mediates the pro-fibrotic effects of TGFβ. RNA sequencing demonstrates that EN1 induces a pro-fibrotic gene expression profile functionally related to the cytoskeleton organization and ROCK activation. EN1 regulates gene expression by modulating the activity of SP1 and other SP-transcription factors, as confirmed by ChIP-seq experiments for EN1 and SP1. Functional experiments confirm the coordinating role of EN1 on ROCK activity and the re-organization of cytoskeleton during myofibroblast differentiation both in standard fibroblast culture systems and in in vitro skin models. Consistently, mice with fibroblast-specific knockout of En1 demonstrate impaired fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition and are partially protected from experimental skin fibrosis.
2021-05-18 | GSE174580 | GEO
Project description:Background and aims: Intestinal fibrosis is a common complication of Crohn’s disease (CD). It is characterised by an excessive accumulation of fibroblasts differentiating into activated myofibroblasts secreting excessive extracellular matrix. The potential role of the intestinal epithelium in this fibrotic process remains poorly defined. Methods: A total of 113 CD and control subjects were studied. We performed a pilot proteomic study comparing the proteome of surface epithelium isolated by laser capture microdissection in normal and fibrotic zones of resected ileal CD strictures (n=5). Selected proteins were validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in colonic and ileal samples of stricturing CD patients (n=44), pure inflammatory CD (n=29) and control subjects (n=40). Functional assays with cell lines cultures and a fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation model were used to assess the role of the highlighted epithelial proteins in CD fibrosis. Results: Proteomic study revealed an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and unfolded protein response (UPR) markers increase in the epithelium overlying ileal fibrotic strictures, involving Anterior gradient protein 2 homolog (AGR2) and Binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP). This was confirmed by IHC. The ER stress induction in intestinal epithelial cells increased AGR2 as well as BiP expression and led to an extracellular secreted AGR2. A fibroblast to myofibroblast differentiation was obtained with the supernatant of intestinal epithelial cells pre-conditioned by ER stress and with recombinant AGR2. Conclusions: AGR2 and other ER stress markers are increased within the intestinal epithelium overlying fibrotic strictures and might contribute to profibrotic signals involved in CD fibrosis.
2022-04-04 | PXD022214 | Pride