1. Academic Validation
  2. CXC chemokine receptor 3 promotes steatohepatitis in mice through mediating inflammatory cytokines, macrophages and autophagy

CXC chemokine receptor 3 promotes steatohepatitis in mice through mediating inflammatory cytokines, macrophages and autophagy

  • J Hepatol. 2016 Jan;64(1):160-70. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2015.09.005.
Xiang Zhang 1 Juqiang Han 2 Kwan Man 3 Xiaoxing Li 4 Jinghua Du 5 Eagle S H Chu 1 Minnie Y Y Go 1 Joseph J Y Sung 1 Jun Yu 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute of Digestive Disease and The Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, CUHK-Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
  • 2 Institute of Digestive Disease and The Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, CUHK-Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Institute of Liver Disease, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing, China.
  • 3 Department of Surgery, LKS Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
  • 4 Institute of Digestive Disease and The Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, CUHK-Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
  • 5 Institute of Digestive Disease and The Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, CUHK-Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Department of Traditional and Western Medical Hepatology, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
  • 6 Institute of Digestive Disease and The Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, CUHK-Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract

Background & aims: CXC Chemokine Receptor 3 (CXCR3) is involved in virus-related chronic liver inflammation. However, the role of CXCR3 in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the role of CXCR3 in NASH.

Methods: Human liver tissues were obtained from 24 non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients and 20 control subjects. CXCR3 knockout (CXCR3(-/-)), obese db/db mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates were used in both methionine-and-choline-deficient (MCD) diet and high-fat high-carbohydrate high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet-induced NASH models. In addition, MCD-fed WT mice were administrated with CXCR3 specific antagonists.

Results: CXCR3 was significantly upregulated in liver tissues of patients with NAFLD and in dietary-induced NASH animal models. Compared with WT littermates, CXCR3(-/-) mice were more resistant to both MCD and HFHC diet-induced steatohepatitis. Induction of CXCR3 in dietary-induced steatohepatitis was associated with the increased expression of hepatic pro-inflammatory cytokines, activation of NF-κB, macrophage infiltration and T lymphocytes accumulation (Th1 and Th17 immune response). CXCR3 was also linked to steatosis through inducing hepatic lipogenic genes. Moreover, CXCR3 is associated with autophagosome-lysosome impairment and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in steatohepatitis as evidenced by LC3-II and p62/SQSTM1 accumulation and the induction of GRP78, phospho-PERK and phospho-eIF2α. Inhibition of CXCR3 using CXCR3 Antagonist significantly suppressed MCD-induced steatosis and hepatocytes injury in AML-12 hepatocytes. Blockade of CXCR3 using CXCR3 antagonists in mice reversed the established steatohepatitis.

Conclusions: CXCR3 plays a pivotal role in NASH development by inducing production of cytokines, macrophage infiltration, fatty acid synthesis and causing Autophagy deficiency and ER stress.

Keywords

Animal model; Autophagy; CXCR3; Macrophage; Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

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