2. Academic Validation
  3. Thymosin β4 exerts cytoprotective function and attenuates liver injury in murine hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Thymosin β4 exerts cytoprotective function and attenuates liver injury in murine hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

  • Transplant Cell Ther. 2023 May 14;S2666-6367(23)01292-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jtct.2023.05.009.
Xiangmin Wang 1,  Yi Zhou 1,  Qian Sun 1,  Qing Zhang 1,  Hongyuan Zhou 1,  Jiaoli Zhang 2,  Yuwei Du 1,  Yuhan Wang 1,  Ke Yuan 1,  Linyan Xu 1,  Meng Zhang 1,  Dongmei Yan 1,  Lingyu Zeng 3,  Kailin Xu 4,  Wei Sang 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Hematology, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Jiangsu Province, China.
  • 2 Department of Rehabilitation, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China.
  • 3 Department of Hematology, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Jiangsu Province, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 4 Department of Hematology, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Jiangsu Province, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5 Department of Hematology, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Jiangsu Province, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 37192732 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtct.2023.05.009
Abstract

Hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (HSOS) is one of the life-threatening complications that may occur after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells (HSECs) injury and liver fibrosis are key mechanisms of HSOS. Thymosin β4 (Tβ4) is an active polypeptide that functions in a variety of pathological and physiological states such as inflammation regulation, anti-apoptosis and anti-fibrosis. In this study, we found that Tβ4 can stimulate HSECs proliferation, migration and tube formation in vitro via activation of pro-survival signaling Akt (protein kinase B). In addition, Tβ4 resisted γ irradiation-induced HSECs growth arrest and Apoptosis in parallel with upregulation of anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma-extra-large (Bcl-xL) and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), which may be associated with activation of Akt. More importantly, Tβ4 significantly inhibited irradiation-induced proinflammatory cytokines in parallel with negative regulation of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB and MAPK p38. Meanwhile, Tβ4 reduced intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species production and upregulated antioxidants in HSECs. Additionally, Tβ4 inhibited irradiation-induced activation of hepatic stellate cells via downregulation expression of fibrogenic markers α-SMA, PAI-1 and TGF-β. In a murine HSOS model, levels of circulating alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, and pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α were significantly reduced after administration of Tβ4 peptide; further, Tβ4 treatment successfully ameliorated HSECs injury, inflammatory damage and fibrosis of murine liver. Taken together, Tβ4 stimulates proliferation and angiogenesis of HSECs, exerts cytoprotective effect and attenuates liver injury in murine HSOS model, which could be a potential strategy to prevent and treat HSOS after HSCT.

Keywords

Hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells; Hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome; Thymosin β4; hepatic fibrosis; inflammation.

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