Noxa mediates hepatic stellate cell apoptosis by proteasome inhibition.
OBJECTIVE
Induction of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) apoptosis is a viable therapeutic strategy to reduce liver fibrogenesis. Although BH3-only proteins of the Bcl-2 family trigger pro-apoptotic pathways, the BH3-only proteins mediating HSC apoptosis have not been well defined. Our aim, using proteasome inhibition as a model to induce HSC apoptosis, was to examine the BH3-only proteins contributing to cell death of this key liver cell subtype.


METHODS
Apoptosis was induced by treating LX-2 cells, an immortalized human hepatic stellate cell line, and primary rat stellate cells with the proteasome inhibitor MG-132.


RESULTS
Treatment with proteasome inhibitors increased expression of Noxa both at the mRNA (16-fold) and protein (22-fold) levels indicating that both transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms contributed to the increase in cellular Noxa levels. Knockdown of Noxa by siRNA significantly attenuated cell death, mechanistically implicating Noxa as a key apoptotic mediator of proteasome inhibitor-induced cell death. Given the pivotal role for the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein A1 in activated HSC survival, we determined if Noxa bound to this survival protein. Noxa was shown to physically bind the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein A1 by co-immunoprecipitation.


CONCLUSIONS
Noxa contributes to proteasome inhibitor-induced apoptosis of stellate cells likely by binding A1. Strategies to therapeutically increase Noxa expression may be useful for inducing HSC apoptosis.
Sosa Seda
Ivette M
IM
Divisions of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Mott
Justin L
JL
Akazawa
Yuko
Y
Barreyro
Fernando J
FJ
Bronk
Steven F
SF
Kaufmann
Scott H
SH
Gores
Gregory J
GJ