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Iruzubieta P, Goikoetxea-Usandizaga N, Barbier-Torres L, Serrano-Maciá M, Fernández-Ramos D, Fernández-Tussy P, Gutiérrez-de-Juan V, Lachiondo-Ortega S, Simon J, Bravo M, Lopitz-Otsoa F, Robles M, Ferre-Aracil C, Varela-Rey M, Elguezabal N, Calleja JL, Lu SC, Milkiewicz M, Milkiewicz P, Anguita J, Monte MJ, Marin JJ, López-Hoyos M, Delgado TC, Rincón M, Crespo J, Martínez-Chantar ML. Boosting mitochondria activity by silencing MCJ overcomes cholestasis-induced liver injury. JHEP Rep 2021; 3:100276. [PMID: 33997750 PMCID: PMC8099785 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2021.100276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Mitochondria are the major organelles for the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cell, and mitochondrial dysfunction has been described as a key factor in the pathogenesis of cholestatic liver disease. The methylation-controlled J-protein (MCJ) is a mitochondrial protein that interacts with and represses the function of complex I of the electron transport chain. The relevance of MCJ in the pathology of cholestasis has not yet been explored. METHODS We studied the relationship between MCJ and cholestasis-induced liver injury in liver biopsies from patients with chronic cholestatic liver diseases, and in livers and primary hepatocytes obtained from WT and MCJ-KO mice. Bile duct ligation (BDL) was used as an animal model of cholestasis, and primary hepatocytes were treated with toxic doses of bile acids. We evaluated the effect of MCJ silencing for the treatment of cholestasis-induced liver injury. RESULTS Elevated levels of MCJ were detected in the liver tissue of patients with chronic cholestatic liver disease when compared with normal liver tissue. Likewise, in mouse models, the hepatic levels of MCJ were increased. After BDL, MCJ-KO animals showed significantly decreased inflammation and apoptosis. In an in vitro model of bile-acid induced toxicity, we observed that the loss of MCJ protected mouse primary hepatocytes from bile acid-induced mitochondrial ROS overproduction and ATP depletion, enabling higher cell viability. Finally, the in vivo inhibition of the MCJ expression, following BDL, showed reduced liver injury and a mitigation of the main cholestatic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrated that MCJ is involved in the progression of cholestatic liver injury, and our results identified MCJ as a potential therapeutic target to mitigate the liver injury caused by cholestasis. LAY SUMMARY In this study, we examine the effect of mitochondrial respiratory chain inhibition by MCJ on bile acid-induced liver toxicity. The loss of MCJ protects hepatocytes against apoptosis, mitochondrial ROS overproduction, and ATP depletion as a result of bile acid toxicity. Our results identify MCJ as a potential therapeutic target to mitigate liver injury in cholestatic liver diseases.
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Key Words
- ALP, alkaline phosphatase
- ALT, alanine aminotransferase
- AMA-M2, antimitochondrial M2 antibody
- ANA, antinuclear antibodies
- APRI, AST to platelet ratio index
- AST, aspartate aminotransferase
- Abs, antibodies
- BA, bile acid
- BAX, BCL2 associated X
- BCL-2, B-cell lymphoma 2
- BCL-Xl, B-cell lymphoma-extra large
- BDL, bile duct ligation
- Bile duct ligation
- CLD, cholestatic liver disease
- Ccl2, C-C motif chemokine ligand 2
- Ccr2, C-C motif chemokine receptor 2
- Ccr5, C-C motif chemokine receptor 5
- Cholestasis
- Cxcl1, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1
- Cyp7α1, cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase
- DCA, deoxycholic acid
- ETC, electron transport chain
- Ezh2, enhancer of zeste homolog 2
- Fxr, farnesoid X receptor
- GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase
- GCDCA, glycochenodeoxycholic acid
- HSC, hepatic stellate cells
- Hif-1α, hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha
- JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase
- KO, knockout
- LSM, liver stiffness
- MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase
- MCJ
- MCJ, methylation-controlled J
- MLKL, mixed-lineage kinase domain-like pseudokinase
- MMP, mitochondrial membrane potential
- MPO, myeloperoxidase
- MPT, mitochondrial permeability transition
- Mitochondria
- Nrf1, nuclear respiratory factor 1
- PARP, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase
- PBC, primary biliary cholangitis
- PSC, primary sclerosing cholangitis
- Pgc1α, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha
- Pgc1β, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-beta
- ROS
- ROS, reactive oxygen species
- RT, room temperature
- SDH2, succinate dehydrogenase
- TNF, tumour necrosis factor
- Tfam, transcription factor A mitochondrial
- Trail, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand
- UDCA, ursodeoxycholic acid
- Ucp2, uncoupling protein 2
- VCTE, vibration-controlled transient elastography
- WT, wild-type
- mRNA, messenger ribonucleic acid
- p-JNK, phosphor-JNK
- p-MLKL, phosphor-MLKL
- shRNA, small hairpin RNA
- siRNA, small interfering RNA
- tBIL, total bilirubin
- α-SMA, alpha-smooth muscle actin
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Iruzubieta
- Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, Clinical and Translational Digestive Research Group, IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
| | - Naroa Goikoetxea-Usandizaga
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Lucía Barbier-Torres
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Marina Serrano-Maciá
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - David Fernández-Ramos
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Pablo Fernández-Tussy
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Virginia Gutiérrez-de-Juan
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Sofia Lachiondo-Ortega
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Jorge Simon
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Miren Bravo
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Fernando Lopitz-Otsoa
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Mercedes Robles
- Liver Unit, Vírgen de Victoria University Hospital, Gastroenterology Service and Department of Medicine, University of Málaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - Carlos Ferre-Aracil
- Liver Unit, Puerta de Hierro University Hospital, IDIPHISA, CIBERehd, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marta Varela-Rey
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Natalia Elguezabal
- Departmento de Sanidad Animal, NEIKER-Instituto Vasco de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario, Derio, Spain
| | - José Luis Calleja
- Liver Unit, Puerta de Hierro University Hospital, IDIPHISA, CIBERehd, Madrid, Spain
| | - Shelly C. Lu
- Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Piotr Milkiewicz
- Liver and Internal Medicine Unit, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Juan Anguita
- Inflammation and Macrophage Plasticity Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Derio, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - María J. Monte
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEFARM), IBSAL, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - José J.G. Marin
- Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEFARM), IBSAL, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Marcos López-Hoyos
- Immunology Department, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
| | - Teresa C. Delgado
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Mercedes Rincón
- Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - Javier Crespo
- Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, Clinical and Translational Digestive Research Group, IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
| | - María Luz Martínez-Chantar
- Liver Disease and Liver Metabolism Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE-BRTA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
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