Wedelolactone Attenuates Liver Fibrosis and Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation by Suppressing the Hippo Pathway

作者：Wei Zhang, Wei Zhang, Kai Gao, Kai Gao, Ya Bai, Ya Bai, Dong Xu, Meina Zhao, Xingru Tao, Jingwen Wang, Jingwen Wang · 发表于：Rejuvenation Research · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1089/rej.2024.0053 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Liver physiology and pathology、Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment、Hippo pathway signaling and YAP/TAZ

Liver fibrosis is a commonly observed pathological phenomenon that occurs during the progression of various types of chronic liver diseases. The Hippo pathway is closely associated with the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Previous studies have shown that wedelolactone (WED) has a significant antihepatic fibrosis effect, whereas the target and mechanism underlying WED remain elusive. In this study, we found that WED significantly alleviated liver fibrosis and injury by inhibiting the expression of Yes-associated protein (YAP) and tafazzin (TAZ). In an in vitro model, WED suppressed the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) induced by transforming growth factor (TGF-β1), as well as the mRNA and protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), YAP, and TAZ. The allosteric regulation of YAP by WED was confirmed using MD and cellular thermal shift assay. Moreover, specific knockdown or inhibition of YAP did not enhance the suppressive effect of WED on HSC activation or protein expression associated with fibrosis. These findings demonstrated that the administration of WED effectively alleviated liver fibrosis by suppressing the Hippo/YAP/TAZ pathways. In addition, YAP activity may be regulated by WED via allosteric regulation.