GSE171532
Alteration in the transcriptome of lung resident fibroblast isolated from fibrotic lungs of IPF upon genetic knockdown of SOX9
Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is associated with many chronic lung diseases including Systemic sclerosis (SSc), Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and Cystic Fibrosis (CF) which are characterized by the progressive accumulation of mesenchymal cells and formation of scar tissue. Pulmonary fibrosis is a dysregulated response to alveolar injury which causes a progressive decline in lung function and refractory to current pharmacological therapies. Airway and alveolar epithelial cells and mesenchymal cells contribute to pulmonary fibrosis but the cell-specific pathways and gene networks that are responsible for the pathophysiology are unknown. Our new findings have identified the aberrant activation of Sox9 in lung resident fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in IPF lung biopsies and the mouse model of transforming growth factor-a (TGFa) and bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, we sought to determine Sox9-driven gene networks in lung resident fibroblast during pulmonary fibrosis. Our results showed that Sox9 regulates the transcriptional changes that are required for the fibroblast activation including migration, myofibroblast transformation, survival and extracellular matrix deposition during pulmonary fibrosis. In summary, this new study demonstrates that Sox9 is a critical regulator of fibroblast activation in IPF and hence serve as a target for therapeutic intervention. Overall design: mRNA profiles of cultured fibrotic lung resident fibroblast isolated from IPF patients and treated with Control or SOX9-specific siRNA.