Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Rega Institute, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
CISTIM, Gaston Geenslaan 2, 3001, Leuven, Belgium.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2022 May 13;79(6):293. doi: 10.1007/s00018-022-04317-y.
Atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3, formerly CXC chemokine receptor 7) is a G protein-coupled receptor that recruits β-arrestins, but is devoid of functional G protein signaling after receptor stimulation. In preclinical models of liver and lung fibrosis, ACKR3 was previously shown to be upregulated after acute injury in liver sinusoidal and pulmonary capillary endothelial cells, respectively. This upregulation was linked with a pro-regenerative and anti-fibrotic role for ACKR3. A recently described ACKR3-targeting small molecule agonist protected mice from isoproterenol-induced cardiac fibrosis. Here, we aimed to evaluate its protective role in preclinical models of liver and lung fibrosis. After confirming its in vitro pharmacological activity (i.e., ACKR3-mediated β-arrestin recruitment and receptor binding), in vivo administration of this ACKR3 agonist led to increased mouse CXCL12 plasma levels, indicating in vivo interaction of the agonist with ACKR3. Whereas twice daily in vivo administration of the ACKR3 agonist lacked inhibitory effect on bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis, it had a modest, but significant anti-fibrotic effect in the carbon tetrachloride (CCl)-induced liver fibrosis model. In the latter model, ACKR3 stimulation affected the expression of several fibrosis-related genes and led to reduced collagen content as determined by picro-sirius red staining and hydroxyproline quantification. These data confirm that ACKR3 agonism, at least to some extent, attenuates fibrosis, although this effect is rather modest and heterogeneous across various tissue types. Stimulating ACKR3 alone without intervening in other signaling pathways involved in the multicellular crosstalk leading to fibrosis will, therefore, most likely not be sufficient to deliver a satisfactory clinical outcome.
非典型趋化因子受体 3(ACKR3,以前称为 CXC 趋化因子受体 7)是一种 G 蛋白偶联受体,可募集β-arrestin,但在受体刺激后缺乏功能性 G 蛋白信号。在肝和肺纤维化的临床前模型中,先前已经显示 ACKR3 在肝窦内皮细胞和肺毛细血管内皮细胞急性损伤后分别上调。这种上调与 ACKR3 的促再生和抗纤维化作用有关。最近描述的一种针对 ACKR3 的小分子激动剂可保护小鼠免受异丙肾上腺素诱导的心脏纤维化。在这里,我们旨在评估其在肝和肺纤维化临床前模型中的保护作用。在确认其体外药理学活性(即,ACKR3 介导的β-arrestin 募集和受体结合)后,体内给予这种 ACKR3 激动剂会导致小鼠 CXCL12 血浆水平升高,表明激动剂与 ACKR3 体内相互作用。虽然体内每日两次给予 ACKR3 激动剂对博来霉素诱导的肺纤维化没有抑制作用,但它在四氯化碳(CCl)诱导的肝纤维化模型中具有适度但显著的抗纤维化作用。在后一种模型中,ACKR3 刺激会影响几种纤维化相关基因的表达,并通过皮尔斯-辛普森红染色和羟脯氨酸定量确定胶原含量降低。这些数据证实,ACKR3 激动剂至少在一定程度上可减轻纤维化,尽管这种作用在各种组织类型中相当温和且具有异质性。仅刺激 ACKR3 而不干预导致纤维化的多细胞串扰中涉及的其他信号通路,因此很可能不足以获得令人满意的临床结果。
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