TAT-Gap19 and Carbenoxolone Alleviate Liver Fibrosis in Mice

作者：Sara Crespo Yanguas, Tereza Silva, Isabel Veloso Alves Pereira, Joost Willebrords, Michaël Maes, Marina Sayuri Nogueira, Inar Alves de Castro, Isabelle Leclercq, Guilherme Ribeiro Romualdo, Luı́s Fernando Barbisan, Luc Leybaert, Bruno Cogliati, Mathieu Vinken · 发表于：International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.3390/ijms19030817 · 被引用次数：42 · 研究领域：Connexins and lens biology、Heat shock proteins research、Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

Although a plethora of signaling pathways are known to drive the activation of hepatic stellate cells in liver fibrosis, the involvement of connexin-based communication in this process remains elusive. Connexin43 expression is enhanced in activated hepatic stellate cells and constitutes the molecular building stone of hemichannels and gap junctions. While gap junctions support intercellular communication, and hence the maintenance of liver homeostasis, hemichannels provide a circuit for extracellular communication and are typically opened by pathological stimuli, such as oxidative stress and inflammation. The present study was set up to investigate the effects of inhibition of connexin43-based hemichannels and gap junctions on liver fibrosis in mice. Liver fibrosis was induced by administration of thioacetamide to Balb/c mice for eight weeks. Thereafter, mice were treated for two weeks with TAT-Gap19, a specific connexin43 hemichannel inhibitor, or carbenoxolone, a general hemichannel and gap junction inhibitor. Subsequently, histopathological analysis was performed and markers of hepatic damage and functionality, oxidative stress, hepatic stellate cell activation and inflammation were evaluated. Connexin43 hemichannel specificity of TAT-Gap19 was confirmed in vitro by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis and the measurement of extracellular release of adenosine-5'-triphosphate. Upon administration to animals, both TAT-Gap19 and carbenoxolone lowered the degree...