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Li Z, Li H, Wang D, Peng X, Syed BM, Liu Q. S-glutathionylation in hepatocytes is involved in arsenic-induced liver fibrosis through activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, an effect alleviated by NAC. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 947:174534. [PMID: 38986690 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 07/04/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Arsenic, a toxicant widely distributed in the environment, is considered as a risk factor for liver fibrosis. At present, the underlying mechanism still needs to be explored. In the present study, we found that, for mice, chronic exposure to arsenic induced liver fibrosis, activated the NLRP3 inflammasome, and increased the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). After hepatocytes were co-cultured with hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), we observed the arsenic-activated NLRP3 inflammasome in hepatocytes, and the co-cultured HSCs were activated. Further, we found that, in livers of mice, arsenic disturbed GSH metabolism and promoted protein S-glutathionylation. A 3D molecular docking simulation suggested that NLRP3 binds with GSH, which was confirmed by immunoprecipitation experiments. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) increased the levels of GSH in hepatocytes, which suppressed the S-glutathionylation of NLRP3 and blocked arsenic-induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Mechanistically, an imbalance of the redox state induced by arsenic promotes the S-glutathionylation of NLRP3, which regulates activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, leading into the activation of HSCs. Moreover, NAC increases the levels of GSH to block arsenic-induced S-glutathionylation of NLRP3, thereby blocking arsenic-induced liver fibrosis. Thus, via activating HSCs, the S-glutathionylation of NLRP3 in hepatocytes is involved in arsenic-induced liver fibrosis, and, for hepatocytes, NAC alleviates these effects by increasing the levels of GSH. These results reveal a new mechanism and provide a possible therapeutic target for the liver fibrosis induced by environmental factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenyang Li
- Center for Global Health, The Key Laboratory of Modern Toxicology, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study of Public Health, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Han Li
- Center for Global Health, The Key Laboratory of Modern Toxicology, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study of Public Health, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Dapeng Wang
- The Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaoshan Peng
- Center for Global Health, The Key Laboratory of Modern Toxicology, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study of Public Health, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China
| | - Binafsha Manzoor Syed
- Medical Research Centre, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro 76090, Sindh, Pakistan
| | - Qizhan Liu
- Center for Global Health, The Key Laboratory of Modern Toxicology, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study of Public Health, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
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Hassan Z, Westerhoff HV. Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater Is Determined by Complex Interactions between Various Chemical and Biological Processes. TOXICS 2024; 12:89. [PMID: 38276724 PMCID: PMC11154318 DOI: 10.3390/toxics12010089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
At a great many locations worldwide, the safety of drinking water is not assured due to pollution with arsenic. Arsenic toxicity is a matter of both systems chemistry and systems biology: it is determined by complex and intertwined networks of chemical reactions in the inanimate environment, in microbes in that environment, and in the human body. We here review what is known about these networks and their interconnections. We then discuss how consideration of the systems aspects of arsenic levels in groundwater may open up new avenues towards the realization of safer drinking water. Along such avenues, both geochemical and microbiological conditions can optimize groundwater microbial ecology vis-à-vis reduced arsenic toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahid Hassan
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, A-Life, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jagannath University, Dhaka 1100, Bangladesh
| | - Hans V. Westerhoff
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, A-Life, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
- School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
- Synthetic Systems Biology and Nuclear Organization, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
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