Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research, Biomedical Sciences Research Center Alexander Fleming, Athens, Greece.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
Nat Commun. 2023 Sep 21;14(1):5882. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41614-x.
The activation and accumulation of lung fibroblasts resulting in aberrant deposition of extracellular matrix components, is a pathogenic hallmark of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a lethal and incurable disease. In this report, increased expression of TKS5, a scaffold protein essential for the formation of podosomes, was detected in the lung tissue of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis patients and bleomycin-treated mice. Τhe profibrotic milieu is found to induce TKS5 expression and the formation of prominent podosome rosettes in lung fibroblasts, that are retained ex vivo, culminating in increased extracellular matrix invasion. Tks5 mice are found resistant to bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, largely attributed to diminished podosome formation in fibroblasts and decreased extracellular matrix invasion. As computationally predicted, inhibition of src kinase is shown to potently attenuate podosome formation in lung fibroblasts and extracellular matrix invasion, and bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, suggesting pharmacological targeting of podosomes as a very promising therapeutic option in pulmonary fibrosis.
肺成纤维细胞的激活和积累导致细胞外基质成分的异常沉积,是特发性肺纤维化的一个致病标志,特发性肺纤维化是一种致命且无法治愈的疾病。在本报告中,在特发性肺纤维化患者和博来霉素处理的小鼠的肺组织中检测到支架蛋白 TKS5 的表达增加,TKS5 对于足突的形成是必需的。研究发现,致纤维化的微环境诱导 TKS5 的表达,并在肺成纤维细胞中形成突出的足突玫瑰花结,这些在体外被保留下来,最终导致细胞外基质的侵入增加。Tks5 小鼠对博来霉素诱导的肺纤维化具有抗性,这主要归因于成纤维细胞中足突的形成减少和细胞外基质的侵入减少。如计算预测的那样,Src 激酶的抑制被证明能强烈抑制肺成纤维细胞中足突的形成和细胞外基质的侵入以及博来霉素诱导的肺纤维化,这表明针对足突的药理学靶向治疗是肺纤维化非常有前途的治疗选择。