Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Department of Pediatrics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Environ Toxicol. 2022 Oct;37(10):2375-2387. doi: 10.1002/tox.23603. Epub 2022 Jul 4.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial pulmonary disease with slow onset and high mortality. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a significant condition for tissue fibrosis, and lncRNA-Snhg6 (small nucleolar RNA host gene 6) is related to EMT in some cancer cells, but its role in pulmonary fibrosis remains obscure. Here, we found that TGF-β1 and Snhg6 were up-regulated in lung tissues of BLM-induced lung fibrosis mouse, and Snhg6 expression was significantly increased in primary lung fibroblasts after BLM treatment. Snhg6 knockdown notably alleviated the pulmonary dysfunction, and the increase of fibrosis area and collagen deposition induced by BLM. MiR-26a-5p was downregulated in BLM-induced fibrotic lung tissues, and it was negatively regulated by Snhg6. Silencing Snhg6 markedly alleviated the TGF-β1-induced increase in fibrotic marker expression, cell proliferation, migration and differentiation, as well as the nuclear transport of p-Smad2/3 by modulating miR-26a-5p expression in mouse lung fibroblasts. Moreover, overexpressing Snhg6-induced collagen accumulation and fibroblast activation in fibroblasts, which was reversed by treatment with miR-26a-5p mimic or oxymatrine (an inhibitor of TGF-β1-Smads pathway). Interestingly, silencing Snhg6 in vivo mitigated BLM-driven pulmonary fibrosis by regulating the miR-26a-5p/TGF-β1-Smads axis. Our data revealed that Snhg6 contributed to the process of BLM-driven lung fibrosis in mouse by modulating the miR-26a-5p/TGF-β1-Smads axis, suggesting that Snhg6 might be a therapeutic target for lung fibrosis.
特发性肺纤维化(IPF)是一种起病隐匿、死亡率高的间质性肺疾病。上皮-间充质转化(EMT)是组织纤维化的重要条件,lncRNA-Snhg6(小核仁 RNA 宿主基因 6)在某些癌细胞中与 EMT 有关,但它在肺纤维化中的作用尚不清楚。在这里,我们发现 TGF-β1 和 Snhg6 在博莱霉素诱导的肺纤维化小鼠的肺组织中上调,并且 Snhg6 表达在 BLM 处理后明显增加。Snhg6 敲低显著减轻 BLM 诱导的肺功能障碍以及纤维化面积和胶原沉积的增加。miR-26a-5p 在 BLM 诱导的纤维化肺组织中下调,并且受 Snhg6 负调控。沉默 Snhg6 显著减轻 TGF-β1 诱导的纤维化标志物表达、细胞增殖、迁移和分化的增加,以及小鼠肺成纤维细胞中 p-Smad2/3 的核转运,通过调节 miR-26a-5p 的表达。此外,过表达 Snhg6 可诱导成纤维细胞中胶原积累和成纤维细胞激活,用 miR-26a-5p 模拟物或氧化苦参碱(TGF-β1-Smads 通路抑制剂)处理可逆转该作用。有趣的是,体内沉默 Snhg6 通过调节 miR-26a-5p/TGF-β1-Smads 轴减轻 BLM 驱动的肺纤维化。我们的数据表明,Snhg6 通过调节 miR-26a-5p/TGF-β1-Smads 轴促进 BLM 驱动的肺纤维化,提示 Snhg6 可能是肺纤维化的治疗靶点。