Loss of steroid receptor co-activator-3 attenuates carbon tetrachloride-induced murine hepatic injury and fibrosis.
Hepatic fibrosis, a disease characterized by altered accumulation of extracellular matrix, can cause cirrhosis and liver failure. There is growing interest in the impact of co-activators on hepatic fibrogenesis. Here, we provided genetic evidence that mice lacking steroid receptor co-activator-3 (SRC-3) were protected against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver necrosis and chronic hepatic fibrosis. After acute CCl4 treatment, SRC-3(-/-) mice showed attenuated profibrotic response and hepatocyte apoptosis, whereas hepatocyte proliferation was elevated in SRC-3(-/-) mice versus SRC-3+/+ mice. Similarly, chronically CCl4-treated SRC-3(-/-) mice showed significant weakening of inflammatory infiltrates, hepatic stellate cell activation and collagen accumulation in the liver compared with SRC-3+/+ mice. Further investigation revealed that TGFbeta1/Smad signaling pathway was impaired in the absence of SRC-3. Moreover, the expression levels of SRC-3, as assessed in human tissue microarray of liver diseases, correlated positively with degrees of fibrosis. These data revealed that SRC-3(-/-) mice were resistant to CCl4-induced acute and chronic hepatic damage and TGFbeta1/Smad signaling was suppressed in the lack of SRC-3. Our results established an essential involvement of SRC-3 in liver fibrogenesis, which might provide new clues to the future treatment of hepatic fibrosis.
Ma
Xinran
X
Laboratory of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Xu
Lingyan
L
Wang
Shu
S
Chen
Haoyan
H
Xu
Jianming
J
Li
Xiaoying
X
Ning
Guang
G
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000633:toxicity; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D055166:Hepatic Stellate Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases / Q000172:deficiency*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008106:Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009336:Necrosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D056921:Nuclear Receptor Coactivator 3; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051899:Smad2 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D051900:Smad3 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000172:deficiency*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000378:metabolism*
D051899:Smad2 Protein; C497783:Smad2 protein, mouse; D051900:Smad3 Protein; C497791:Smad3 protein, mouse; D015534:Trans-Activators; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D003094:Collagen; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases; C538866:NCOA3 protein, human; C538867:Ncoa3 protein, mouse; D056921:Nuclear Receptor Coactivator 3