Pivotal Role of TGF-β/Smad Signaling in Cardiac Fibrosis: Non-coding RNAs as Effectual Players

Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

Behrang Alani¹  Hasan Rajabi Moghadam²  Maryam Mahjoubin-Tehran³  Mohammad Abbasi-kolli⁴  Layla Shojaie⁵  Michael Aschner⁶  Mahdi Noureddini⁷  Somayeh Saadat⁷  Behnaz Maleki⁷  Hamed Mirzaei⁸  Sina Nazemi⁹ 

[1] Department of Applied Cell Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran;Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran;Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran;Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;Department of Medicine, Research Center for Liver Diseases, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States;Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States;Physiology Research Centre, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran;Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran;Vascular and Thorax Surgery Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;

关键词: cardiac fibrosis;    non-coding RNAs;    Smad;    TGF—transforming growth factor;    microRNA;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcvm.2020.588347

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Unintended cardiac fibroblast proliferation in many pathophysiological heart conditions, known as cardiac fibrosis, results in pooling of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the heart muscle. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) as a pivotal cytokine/growth factor stimulates fibroblasts and hastens ECM production in injured tissues. The TGF-β receptor is a heterodimeric receptor complex on the plasma membrane, made up from TGF-β type I, as well as type II receptors, giving rise to Smad2 and Smad3 transcription factors phosphorylation upon canonical signaling. Phosphorylated Smad2, Smad3, and cytoplasmic Smad4 intercommunicate to transfer the signal to the nucleus, culminating in provoked gene transcription. Additionally, TGF-β receptor complex activation starts up non-canonical signaling that lead to the mitogen-stimulated protein kinase cascade activation, inducing p38, JNK1/2 (c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase 1/2), and ERK1/2 (extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2) signaling. TGF-β not only activates fibroblasts and stimulates them to differentiate into myofibroblasts, which produce ECM proteins, but also promotes fibroblast proliferation. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are important regulators of numerous pathways along with cellular procedures. MicroRNAs and circular long ncRNAs, combined with long ncRNAs, are capable of affecting TGF-β/Smad signaling, leading to cardiac fibrosis. More comprehensive knowledge based on these processes may bring about new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for different cardiac disorders.

【 授权许可】

CC BY