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Li J, Deng B, Zhang J, Zhang X, Cheng L, Li G, Su P, Miao X, Yang W, Xie J, Wang R. The Peptide DH α-(4-pentenyl)-ANPQIR-NH 2 Exhibits Antifibrotic Activity in Multiple Pulmonary Fibrosis Models Induced by Particulate and Soluble Chemical Fibrogenic Agents. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2024; 388:701-714. [PMID: 38129127 DOI: 10.1124/jpet.123.001849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a group of restrictive lung diseases characterized by interstitial inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis. The incidence of ILDs associated with exposure to multiple hazards such as inhaled particles, fibers, and ingested soluble chemicals is increasing yearly, and there are no ideal drugs currently available. Our previous research showed that the novel and low-toxicity peptide DHα-(4-pentenyl)-ANPQIR-NH2 (DR3penA) had a strong antifibrotic effect on a bleomycin-induced murine model. Based on the druggability of DR3penA, we sought to investigate its effects on respirable particulate silicon dioxide (SiO2)- and soluble chemical paraquat (PQ)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in this study by using western blot, quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), immunofluorescence, H&E and Masson staining, immunohistochemistry, and serum biochemical assays. The results showed that DR3penA alleviated the extent of fibrosis by inhibiting the expression of fibronectin and collagen I and suppressed oxidative stress and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro and in vivo. Further study revealed that DR3penA may mitigate pulmonary fibrosis by negatively regulating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Unexpectedly, through the conversion of drug bioavailability under different routes of administration, DR3penA exerted antifibrotic effects equivalent to those of the positive control drug pirfenidone (PFD) at lower doses. In summary, DR3penA may be a promising lead compound for various fibrotic ILDs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Our study verified that DHα-(4-pentenyl)-ANPQIR-NH2 (DR3penA) exhibited positive antifibrotic activity in pulmonary fibrosis induced by silicon dioxide (SiO2) particles and soluble chemical paraquat (PQ) and demonstrated a low-dose advantage compared to the small-molecule drug pirfenidone (PFD). The peptide DR3penA can be further developed for the treatment of multiple fibrotic lung diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jieru Li
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Bochuan Deng
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jiao Zhang
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xiang Zhang
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lu Cheng
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Guofeng Li
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ping Su
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xiaokang Miao
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wenle Yang
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Junqiu Xie
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Rui Wang
- Institute of Materia Medica and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China (J.L., R.W.); Department of General Surgery, The Second Hospital and Clinical Medical School (J.L.) and Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences and Research Unit of Peptide Science, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU066 (B.D., J.Z., X.Z., P.S., X.M., W.Y., J.X., R.W.), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; and School of Biomedical Engineering (L.C.) and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (G.L.), Shenzhen University Health Science Centre, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
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Li N, Lin Z, Zhou Q, Chang M, Wang Y, Guan Y, Li H, Zhao Y, Liu N, Jin Y, Yao S. Metformin alleviates crystalline silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis by remodeling endothelial cells to mesenchymal transition via autophagy signaling. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2022; 245:114100. [PMID: 36155331 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Silicosis is a severe progressive lung disease without effective treatment methods. Previous evidence has demonstrated that endothelial cell to mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) plays an essential role in pulmonary fibrosis, and pulmonary fibrosis is associated with dysregulation of autophagy, while the relationship between autophagy and EndoMT has not yet been adequately studied. Herein, we established a mouse model of silicosis, and we found that the pharmacological induction of the AMPK/mTOR-dependent pathway using 100 mg/kg Metformin (Met) enhanced autophagy in vivo, and results of the Western blot showed that autophagy-related proteins, LC3 II/I ratio, and Beclin-1 increased while p62 decreased. In addition, Met treatment attenuated silica-induced pulmonary inflammation and decreased collagen deposition by suppressing EndoMT, and the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was also inhibited. Notably, the tube forming assay showed that Met also protected the vascular endothelial cells from silica-induced morphological damage. In conclusion, Met can alleviate inflammatory response and collagen deposition in the process of pulmonary fibrosis induced by silica via suppressing EndoMT through the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ning Li
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China; School of Public Health, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China.
| | - Zhang Lin
- Clinical Medical Research Center for Women and Children Diseases, Maternal and Child Care Hospital of Shandong Province, Shandong University, Jinan 250001, China.
| | - Qiang Zhou
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China.
| | - Meiyu Chang
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China.
| | - Yongheng Wang
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China.
| | - Yi Guan
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China.
| | - Haibin Li
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China.
| | - Yingzheng Zhao
- School of Public Health, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China.
| | - Nan Liu
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China.
| | - Yulan Jin
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China.
| | - Sanqiao Yao
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science of Technology, Tangshan 062310, China; School of Public Health, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China.
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Wang S, Luo W, Huang J, Chen M, Ding J, Cheng Y, Zhang W, Fang S, Wang J, Chao J. The Combined Effects of circRNA Methylation Promote Pulmonary Fibrosis. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2022; 66:510-523. [PMID: 35213290 DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2021-0379oc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most common type of RNA methylation modification, mainly occurring on mRNA. Whether m6A-modified circRNAs are involved in pulmonary fibrosis in different settings remains unclear. Using an m6A-circRNA epitranscriptomic chip, candidate circRNAs were selected, among which hsa_circ_0000672 and hsa_circ_0005654 were specifically involved in SiO2-induced pulmonary fibrosis by targeting the same protein, eIF4A3, indicating that the m6A modification of these two circRNAs has a synergistic effect on fibroblast dysfunction induced by SiO2. A mechanistic study revealed that the m6A modification of circRNAs was mainly mediated by the methyltransferase METTL3. Furthermore, METTL3 promoted the activation, migration and activity of pulmonary fibroblasts and participated in SiO2-induced pulmonary fibrosis via the circRNA m6A modification. m6A methylation of circRNAs mediates silica-induced fibrosis, enriching the understanding of circRNAs and uncovering a potential new target for treating fibrosis-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sha Wang
- Southeast University, Department of physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Wei Luo
- Southeast University, Department of physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Jie Huang
- Southeast University, Department of physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Menglin Chen
- Southeast University, Department of physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Jiawei Ding
- Southeast University, Department of physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Yusi Cheng
- Southeast University, Physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Southeast University, Physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Shencun Fang
- Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nine Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Jing Wang
- Southeast University, Department of physiology, Nanjing, China
| | - Jie Chao
- Southeast University, Department of physiology, Nanjing, China;
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