Deficiency of liver sinusoidal scavenger receptors stabilin-1 and -2 in mice causes glomerulofibrotic nephropathy via impaired hepatic clearance of noxious blood factors

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Abstract

Tissue homeostasis and remodeling are processes that involve high turnover of biological macromolecules. Many of the waste molecules that are by-products or degradation intermediates of biological macromolecule turnover enter the circulation and are subsequently cleared by liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC). Besides the mannose receptor, stabilin-1 and stabilin-2 are the major scavenger receptors expressed by LSEC. To more clearly elucidate the functions of stabilin-1 and -2, we have generated mice lacking stabilin-1, stabilin-2, or both stabilin-1 and -2 (Stab1–/–Stab2–/– mice). Mice lacking either stabilin-1 or stabilin-2 were phenotypically normal; however, Stab1–/–Stab2–/– mice exhibited premature mortality and developed severe glomerular fibrosis, while the liver showed only mild perisinusoidal fibrosis without dysfunction. Upon kidney transplantation into WT mice, progression of glomerular fibrosis was halted, indicating the presence of profibrotic factors in the circulation of Stab1–/–Stab2–/– mice. While plasma levels of known profibrotic cytokines were unaltered, clearance of the TGF-β family member growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) was markedly impaired in Stab1–/–Stab2–/– mice but not in either Stab1–/– or Stab2–/– mice, indicating that it is a common ligand of both stabilin-1 and stabilin-2. These data lead us to conclude that stabilin-1 and -2 together guarantee proper hepatic clearance of potentially noxious agents in the blood and maintain tissue homeostasis not only in the liver but also distant organs.

Authors

Kai Schledzewski, Cyrill Géraud, Bernd Arnold, Shijun Wang, Hermann-Josef Gröne, Tibor Kempf, Kai C. Wollert, Beate K. Straub, Peter Schirmacher, Alexandra Demory, Hiltrud Schönhaber, Alexei Gratchev, Lisa Dietz, Hermann-Josef Thierse, Julia Kzhyshkowska, Sergij Goerdt

Fbxw7 regulates lipid metabolism and cell fate decisions in the mouse liver

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Abstract

E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes of the SCF type consist of ring-box 1 (Rbx1), cullin 1 (Cul1), S-phase kinase-associated protein 1 (Skp1), and a member of the F-box family of proteins. The identity of the F-box protein determines the substrate specificity of the complex. The F-box family member F-box– and WD repeat domain–containing 7 (Fbxw7; also known as Fbw7, SEL-10, hCdc4, and hAgo) targets for degradation proteins with wide-ranging functions, and uncovering its in vivo role has been difficult, because Fbxw7–/– embryos die in utero. Using two different Cre-loxP systems (Mx1-Cre and Alb-Cre), we generated mice with liver-specific null mutations of Fbxw7. Hepatic ablation of Fbxw7 resulted in hepatomegaly and steatohepatitis, with massive deposition of triglyceride, a phenotype similar to that observed in humans with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Both cell proliferation and the abundance of Fbxw7 substrates were increased in the Fbxw7-deficient liver. Long-term Fbxw7 deficiency resulted in marked proliferation of the biliary system and the development of hamartomas. Fbxw7 deficiency also skewed the differentiation of liver stem cells toward the cholangiocyte lineage rather than the hepatocyte lineage in vitro. This bias was corrected by additional loss of the Notch cofactor RBP-J, suggesting that Notch accumulation triggered the abnormal proliferation of the biliary system. Together, our results suggest that Fbxw7 plays key roles, regulating lipogenesis and cell proliferation and differentiation in the liver.

Authors

Ichiro Onoyama, Atsushi Suzuki, Akinobu Matsumoto, Kengo Tomita, Hideki Katagiri, Yuichi Oike, Keiko Nakayama, Keiichi I. Nakayama

Combined deletion of Fxr and Shp in mice induces Cyp17a1 and results in juvenile onset cholestasis

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Abstract

Bile acid homeostasis is tightly regulated via a feedback loop operated by the nuclear receptors farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and small heterodimer partner (SHP). Contrary to current models, which place FXR upstream of SHP in a linear regulatory pathway, here we show that the phenotypic consequences in mice of the combined loss of both receptors are much more severe than the relatively modest impact of the loss of either Fxr or Shp alone. Fxr–/–Shp–/– mice exhibited cholestasis and liver injury as early as 3 weeks of age, and this was linked to the dysregulation of bile acid homeostatic genes, particularly cytochrome P450, family 7, subfamily a, polypeptide 1 (Cyp7a1). In addition, double-knockout mice showed misregulation of genes in the C21 steroid biosynthesis pathway, with strong induction of cytochrome P450, family 17, subfamily a, polypeptide 1 (Cyp17a1), resulting in elevated serum levels of its enzymatic product 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP). Treatment of WT mice with 17-OHP was sufficient to induce liver injury that reproduced many of the histopathological features observed in the double-knockout mice. Therefore, our data indicate a pathologic role for increased production of 17-hydroxy steroid metabolites in liver injury and suggest that Fxr–/–Shp–/– mice could provide a model for juvenile onset cholestasis.

Authors

Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk, Mitsuhiro Watanabe, Scott A. Ochsner, Neil J. McKenna, Milton J. Finegold, David D. Moore

Antagonism of the chemokine Ccl5 ameliorates experimental liver fibrosis in mice

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Abstract

Activation of hepatic stellate cells in response to chronic inflammation represents a crucial step in the development of liver fibrosis. However, the molecules involved in the interaction between immune cells and stellate cells remain obscure. Herein, we identify the chemokine CCL5 (also known as RANTES), which is induced in murine and human liver after injury, as a central mediator of this interaction. First, we showed in patients with liver fibrosis that CCL5 haplotypes and intrahepatic CCL5 mRNA expression were associated with severe liver fibrosis. Consistent with this, we detected Ccl5 mRNA and CCL5 protein in 2 mouse models of liver fibrosis, induced by either injection of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) or feeding on a methionine and choline–deficient (MCD) diet. In these models, Ccl5–/– mice exhibited decreased hepatic fibrosis, with reduced stellate cell activation and immune cell infiltration. Transplantation of Ccl5-deficient bone marrow into WT recipients attenuated liver fibrosis, identifying infiltrating hematopoietic cells as the main source of Ccl5. We then showed that treatment with the CCL5 receptor antagonist Met-CCL5 inhibited cultured stellate cell migration, proliferation, and chemokine and collagen secretion. Importantly, in vivo administration of Met-CCL5 greatly ameliorated liver fibrosis in mice and was able to accelerate fibrosis regression. Our results define a successful therapeutic approach to reduce experimental liver fibrosis by antagonizing Ccl5 receptors.

Authors

Marie-Luise Berres, Rory R. Koenen, Anna Rueland, Mirko Moreno Zaldivar, Daniel Heinrichs, Hacer Sahin, Petra Schmitz, Konrad L. Streetz, Thomas Berg, Nikolaus Gassler, Ralf Weiskirchen, Amanda Proudfoot, Christian Weber, Christian Trautwein, Hermann E. Wasmuth

Organic anion transporting polypeptide 1a/1b–knockout mice provide insights into hepatic handling of bilirubin, bile acids, and drugs

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Abstract

Organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) are uptake transporters for a broad range of endogenous compounds and xenobiotics. To investigate the physiologic and pharmacologic roles of OATPs of the 1A and 1B subfamilies, we generated mice lacking all established and predicted mouse Oatp1a/1b transporters (referred to as Slco1a/1b–/– mice, as SLCO genes encode OATPs). Slco1a/1b–/– mice were viable and fertile but exhibited markedly increased plasma levels of bilirubin conjugated to glucuronide and increased plasma levels of unconjugated bile acids. The unexpected conjugated hyperbilirubinemia indicates that Oatp1a/1b transporters normally mediate extensive hepatic reuptake of glucuronidated bilirubin. We therefore hypothesized that substantial sinusoidal secretion and subsequent Oatp1a/1b-mediated reuptake of glucuronidated compounds can occur in hepatocytes under physiologic conditions. This alters our perspective on normal liver functioning. Slco1a/1b–/– mice also showed drastically decreased hepatic uptake and consequently increased systemic exposure following i.v. or oral administration of the OATP substrate drugs methotrexate and fexofenadine. Importantly, intestinal absorption of oral methotrexate or fexofenadine was not affected in Slco1a/1b–/– mice. Further analysis showed that rifampicin was an effective and specific Oatp1a/1b inhibitor in controlling methotrexate pharmacokinetics. These data indicate that Oatp1a/1b transporters play an essential role in hepatic reuptake of conjugated bilirubin and uptake of unconjugated bile acids and drugs. Slco1a/1b–/– mice will provide excellent tools to study further the role of Oatp1a/1b transporters in physiology and drug disposition.

Authors

Evita van de Steeg, Els Wagenaar, Cornelia M.M. van der Kruijssen, Johanna E.C. Burggraaff, Dirk R. de Waart, Ronald P.J. Oude Elferink, Kathryn E. Kenworthy, Alfred H. Schinkel

Ectodomain shedding of EGFR ligands and TNFR1 dictates hepatocyte apoptosis during fulminant hepatitis in mice

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Abstract

The cell death receptor Fas plays a role in the establishment of fulminant hepatitis, a major cause of drug-induced liver failure. Fas activation elicits extrinsic apoptotic and hepatoprotective signals; however, the mechanisms by which these signals are integrated during disease are unknown. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 3 (TIMP3) controls the critical sheddase a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) and may dictate stress signaling. Using mice and cells lacking TIMP3, ADAM17, and ADAM17-regulated cell surface molecules, we have found that ADAM17-mediated ectodomain shedding of TNF receptors and EGF family ligands controls activation of multiple signaling cascades in Fas-induced hepatitis. We demonstrated that TNF signaling promoted hepatotoxicity, while excessive TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) shedding in Timp3–/– mice was protective. Compound Timp3–/–Tnf–/– and Timp3–/–Tnfr1–/– knockout conferred complete resistance to Fas-induced toxicity. Loss of Timp3 enhanced metalloproteinase-dependent EGFR signaling due to increased release of the EGFR ligands TGF-α, amphiregulin, and HB-EGF, while depletion of shed amphiregulin resensitized Timp3–/– hepatocytes to apoptosis. Finally, adenoviral delivery of Adam17 prevented acetaminophen-induced liver failure in a clinically relevant model of Fas-dependent fulminant hepatitis. These findings demonstrate that TIMP3 and ADAM17 cooperatively dictate cytokine signaling during death receptor activation and indicate that regulated metalloproteinase activity integrates survival and death signals during acute hepatotoxic stress.

Authors

Aditya Murthy, Virginie Defamie, David S. Smookler, Marco A. Di Grappa, Keisuke Horiuchi, Massimo Federici, Maria Sibilia, Carl P. Blobel, Rama Khokha

Neuropilin-1 promotes cirrhosis of the rodent and human liver by enhancing PDGF/TGF-β signaling in hepatic stellate cells

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Abstract

PDGF-dependent hepatic stellate cell (HSC) recruitment is an essential step in liver fibrosis and the sinusoidal vascular changes that accompany this process. However, the mechanisms that regulate PDGF signaling remain incompletely defined. Here, we found that in two rat models of liver fibrosis, the axonal guidance molecule neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) was upregulated in activated HSCs, which exhibit the highly motile myofibroblast phenotype. Additionally, NRP-1 colocalized with PDGF-receptor β (PDGFRβ) in HSCs both in the injury models and in human and rat HSC cell lines. In human HSCs, siRNA-mediated knockdown of NRP-1 attenuated PDGF-induced chemotaxis, while NRP-1 overexpression increased cell motility and TGF-β–dependent collagen production. Similarly, mouse HSCs genetically modified to lack NRP-1 displayed reduced motility in response to PDGF treatment. Immunoprecipitation and biochemical binding studies revealed that NRP-1 increased PDGF binding affinity for PDGFRβ-expressing cells and promoted downstream signaling. An NRP-1 neutralizing Ab ameliorated recruitment of HSCs, blocked liver fibrosis in a rat model of liver injury, and also attenuated VEGF responses in cultured liver endothelial cells. In addition, NRP-1 overexpression was observed in human specimens of liver cirrhosis caused by both hepatitis C and steatohepatitis. These studies reveal a role for NRP-1 as a modulator of multiple growth factor targets that regulate liver fibrosis and the vascular changes that accompany it and may have broad implications for liver cirrhosis and myofibroblast biology in a variety of other organ systems and disease conditions.

Authors

Sheng Cao, Usman Yaqoob, Amitava Das, Uday Shergill, Kumaravelu Jagavelu, Robert C. Huebert, Chittaranjan Routray, Soha Abdelmoneim, Meher Vasdev, Edward Leof, Michael Charlton, Ryan J. Watts, Debabrata Mukhopadhyay, Vijay H. Shah

In liver fibrosis, dendritic cells govern hepatic inflammation in mice via TNF-α

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Abstract

Hepatic fibrosis occurs during most chronic liver diseases and is driven by inflammatory responses to injured tissue. Because DCs are central to modulating liver immunity, we postulated that altered DC function contributes to immunologic changes in hepatic fibrosis and affects the pathologic inflammatory milieu within the fibrotic liver. Using mouse models, we determined the contribution of DCs to altered hepatic immunity in fibrosis and investigated the role of DCs in modulating the inflammatory environment within the fibrotic liver. We found that DC depletion completely abrogated the elevated levels of many inflammatory mediators that are produced in the fibrotic liver. DCs represented approximately 25% of the fibrotic hepatic leukocytes and showed an elevated CD11b+CD8– fraction, a lower B220+ plasmacytoid fraction, and increased expression of MHC II and CD40. Moreover, after liver injury, DCs gained a marked capacity to induce hepatic stellate cells, NK cells, and T cells to mediate inflammation, proliferation, and production of potent immune responses. The proinflammatory and immunogenic effects of fibrotic DCs were contingent on their production of TNF-α. Therefore, modulating DC function may be an attractive approach to experimental therapeutics in fibro-inflammatory liver disease.

Authors

Michael K. Connolly, Andrea S. Bedrosian, Jon Mallen-St. Clair, Aaron P. Mitchell, Junaid Ibrahim, Andrea Stroud, H. Leon Pachter, Dafna Bar-Sagi, Alan B. Frey, George Miller

A complement-dependent balance between hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury and liver regeneration in mice

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Abstract

Massive liver resection and small-for-size liver transplantation pose a therapeutic challenge, due to increased susceptibility of the remnant/graft to ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) and impaired regeneration. We investigated the dual role of complement in IRI versus regeneration in mice. Complement component 3 (C3) deficiency and complement inhibition with complement receptor 2–complement receptor 1–related protein y (CR2-Crry, an inhibitor of C3 activation) provided protection from hepatic IRI, and while C3 deficiency also impaired liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy (PHx), the effect of CR2-Crry in this context was dose dependent. In a combined model of IRI and PHx, either C3 deficiency or high-dose CR2-Crry resulted in steatosis, severe hepatic injury, and high mortality, whereas low-dose CR2-Crry was protective and actually increased hepatic proliferative responses relative to control mice. Reconstitution experiments revealed an important role for the C3a degradation product acylation-stimulating protein (ASP) in the balance between inflammation/injury versus regeneration. Furthermore, liver regeneration was dependent on the putative ASP receptor, C5L2. Several potential mechanisms of hepatoprotection and recovery were identified in mice treated with low-dose CR2-Crry, including enhanced IL-6 expression and STAT3 activation, reduced hepatic ATP depletion, and attenuated oxidative stress. These data indicate that a threshold of complement activation, involving ASP and C5L2, promotes liver regeneration and suggest a balance between complement-dependent injury and regeneration.

Authors

Songqing He, Carl Atkinson, Fei Qiao, Katherine Cianflone, Xiaoping Chen, Stephen Tomlinson

Neonatal NK cells target the mouse duct epithelium via Nkg2d and drive tissue-specific injury in experimental biliary atresia

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Abstract

Biliary atresia is a neonatal obstructive cholangiopathy that progresses to end-stage liver disease. Although the etiology is unknown, a neonatal adaptive immune signature has been mechanistically linked to obstruction of the extrahepatic bile ducts. Here, we investigated the role of the innate immune response in the pathogenesis of biliary atresia. Analysis of livers of infants at diagnosis revealed that NK cells populate the vicinity of intrahepatic bile ducts and overexpress several genes involved in cytotoxicity. Using a model of rotavirus-induced biliary atresia in newborn mice, we found that activated NK cells also populated murine livers and were the most abundant cells in extrahepatic bile ducts at the time of obstruction. Rotavirus-primed hepatic NK cells lysed cholangiocytes in a contact- and Nkg2d-dependent fashion. Depletion of NK cells and blockade of Nkg2d each prevented injury of the duct epithelium after rotavirus infection, maintained continuity of duct lumen between the liver and duodenum, and enabled bile flow, despite the presence of virus in the tissue and the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines. These findings identify NK cells as key initiators of cholangiocyte injury via Nkg2d and demonstrate that injury to the duct epithelium drives the phenotype of experimental biliary atresia.

Authors

Pranavkumar Shivakumar, Gregg E. Sabla, Peter Whitington, Claire A. Chougnet, Jorge A. Bezerra