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Zhou S, Wang Z, Gao L, Chen M, Duan Y, Zhou P, Liu Z, Wu C, Zhang J, Zhu Q. C5a/C5aR1 axis as a key driver promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in airway epithelial cells in silica nanoparticles-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Int Immunopharmacol 2023; 125:111112. [PMID: 37948857 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.111112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) exposure can affect the respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive and other systems, with the lung being the primary target organ for the direct effect, causing damage with a central feature of pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. However, the underlying mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis due to SiNPs are not fully understood. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of complement anaphylatoxin C5a in SiNPs-induced pulmonary fibrosis. A mouse model of SiNPs-induced pulmonary fibrosis was established, and pulmonary fibrosis-related indicators, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), C5a/C5aR1 and high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) proteins were measured. An in vitro study using the human lung epithelial cell line BEAS-2B investigated whether C5a leads to epithelial-to-mesenchymal trans-differentiation. In vivo studies revealed that SiNPs-induced pulmonary fibrosis mainly manifested as EMT trans-differentiation in airway epithelial cells, which subsequently led to excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM). Furthermore, we found that C5a and C5aR1 proteins were also increased in SiNPs-induced pulmonary fibrosis tissue. In vitro studies also showed that C5a directly activated HMGB1/RAGE signaling and induced EMT in BEAS-2B cells. Finally, treatment of SiNPs-exposed mice with the C5aR1 inhibitor PMX205 effectively reduced C5aR1 levels and inhibited the activation of HMGB1/RAGE signaling and the expression of EMT-related proteins, culminating in a significant alleviation of pulmonary fibrosis. Taken together, our results suggest that C5a/C5aR1 is the main signaling pathway for SiNPs-induced pulmonary fibrosis, which induces EMT in airway epithelial cells via the HMGB1/RAGE axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sifan Zhou
- Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Zhoujian Wang
- Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Lei Gao
- Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Muyue Chen
- Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Yuansheng Duan
- Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Pengcheng Zhou
- Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Zhibing Liu
- Department of Dermatology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Dermatology (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Changhao Wu
- Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Jiaxiang Zhang
- Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
| | - Qixing Zhu
- Department of Dermatology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China; Key Laboratory of Dermatology (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education, Hefei, Anhui, China.
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