Vincristine Promotes Transdifferentiation of Fibroblasts Into Myofibroblasts via P38 and ERK Signal Pathways

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Mengyun Tu¹  Peisen Zhou²  Mengying Xie³  Zhiliang Zhou³  Jie Weng³  Hui Xu³  Jingwen Yang⁴  Liang Wang⁵  Chan Chen⁶  Zhiyi Wang⁷ 

[1]Department of Clinical Laboratory, Hangzhou TCM Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China

[2]Department of Emergency Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

[3]Department of General Practice, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

[4]Department of Geriatric Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

[5]Department of Public Health, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States

[6]Institute of Bioscaffold Transplantation and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

[7]Institute of Hypoxia Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

关键词: vincristine;    pulmonary fibrosis;    fibroblast;    myofibroblast;    MAPK;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphar.2022.901000

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: Vincristine (VCR) is used in the clinic as an anti-tumor drug. VCR can cause pulmonary fibrosis (PF), leading to respiratory failure. The transformation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts may play a key role in PF. The present study attempted to reveal the molecular mechanism of VCR-induced PF and the possible involvement of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway.Methods: Human embryonic lung fibroblasts (HELFs) were treated with different concentrations of VCR. Inhibitors of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and p38 MAPK were added to HELFs. Cell proliferation state was assessed using cell counting kit-8 and by directly counting the number of cells. The expressions of vimentin and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were investigated using western blot and immunofluorescence analyses. Activation of ERK and P38 was estimated by the expression of phosphorylated p38 MAPK (p-p38), p38 MAPK, phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) and ERK1/2 using western blot analysis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to estimate the level of collagen I in cell culture supernatants.Results: Results showed that VCR promoted cellular proliferation, secretion of collagen I and the expression of vimentin and α-SMA. High expression of p-p38 and p-ERK1/2 was associated with the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway. MAPK inhibitors SB203580 and PD98059 suppressed the expression of the above proteins.Conclusion: Our study revealed that VCR could promote the differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts by regulating the MAPK signal pathway, which may be a promising way to treat VCR-induced PF.

【 授权许可】

Unknown