2. Academic Validation
  3. Inhibiting Liver Autophagy and Promoting Hepatocyte Apoptosis by Schistosoma Japonicum Infection

Inhibiting Liver Autophagy and Promoting Hepatocyte Apoptosis by Schistosoma Japonicum Infection

  • Trop Med Infect Dis. 2024 Feb 4;9(2):42. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed9020042.
Zhihao Yu 1 2 3 4,  Tingting Jiang 1 2 3 4,  Fangfang Xu 1 2 3 4,  Jing Zhang 1 2 3 4,  Yuan Hu 1 2 3 4,  Jianping Cao 1 2 3 4 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, Shanghai 200025, China.
  • 2 National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research), Shanghai 200025, China.
  • 3 World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases, Shanghai 200025, China.
  • 4 World Health Organization Centre for Tropical Diseases, Shanghai 200025, China.
  • 5 The School of Global Health, Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
PMID: 38393131 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed9020042
Abstract

We established a mouse model of Schistosoma japonicum Infection in order to study the effects of the Infection on hepatocyte Autophagy and Apoptosis. We also stimulated HepG2 cells with soluble egg antigens (SEA) in vitro. At two, four, and six weeks post-infection, quantitative Real-Time PCR and Western blot (WB) were used to detect liver expression levels of Autophagy and apoptosis-related proteins. HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of SEA. The changes in the levels of autophagy-related proteins and HepG2 cell Apoptosis were detected. The Lc3b, Beclin1, Atg7, and Atg12 mRNA levels were significantly lower at four and six weeks after Infection than those in the uninfected group. At four and six weeks following Infection, the levels of Beclin1, LC3BII/I, Atg7, and p62 proteins were considerably lower than those in the uninfected group. The protein levels of pro-apoptotic Bax and cleaved Caspase 3 and fibrosis-related proteins α-SMA and collagen 3 in the liver post-infection were significantly higher than those in uninfected mice. HepG2 cells stimulated with SEA showed decreased levels of Beclin1, p62, and Atg7 proteins and significantly increased Apoptosis rates. The findings demonstrated that following Infection with S. japonicum, mice's liver fibrosis worsened, hepatic Autophagy was suppressed, and hepatocyte Apoptosis was encouraged.

Keywords

Schistosoma japonicum; apoptosis; autophagy; hepatocyte; liver fibrosis.

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