孕烷X受体通过激活小鼠体内的Yes相关蛋白减轻脓毒症诱导的肝损伤。
Pregnane X receptor alleviates sepsis-induced liver injury through activation of yes-associated protein in mice.
作者信息
Wu Cheng-Hua, Hu Shuang, Li Dan, Jiang Xiao-Wen, Ou-Yang Hui, Bi Guo-Fang, Wang Peng, Liang Feng-Ting, Zhou Wen-Hong, Yang Xiao, Fang Jian-Hong, Bi Hui-Chang
机构信息
NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening & Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.
The State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen, 518000, China.
出版信息
Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2025 Apr 15. doi: 10.1038/s41401-025-01552-4.
The severity of sepsis is attributed to excessive inflammatory responses leading to liver injury. Pregnane X receptor (PXR), a nuclear receptor that controls xenobiotic and endobiotic metabolism, has been implicated in regulating inflammation and liver regeneration. This study aimed to investigate the role of PXR in sepsis-induced liver injury and the underlying mechanisms. Sepsis models were established in mice, the mice were administered the typical mouse PXR agonist PCN (100 mg·kg·d, i.p.) for 3 consecutive days in advance, then subjected to CLP operation or LPS administration 1 h after the last administration of PCN. The results showed that PCN pretreatment significantly increased the survival rate of septic mice, while the survival rate was reduced after the knockout of Pxr. In addition, PCN pretreatment effectively alleviated sepsis-induced liver injury. In Pxr knockout mice, liver injury was more severe, whereas the protective effects of PCN pretreatment were abolished. Mechanistically, PCN pretreatment significantly upregulated the expression of yes-associated protein (YAP) and its downstream targets and decreased the level of phosphorylated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). Moreover, liver-specific knockdown of Yap blocked the protective effects of PCN pretreatment against sepsis-induced liver injury and downregulated the phosphorylation level of NF-κB. In summary, this study demonstrated that PXR activation protects against sepsis-induced liver injury through activation of the YAP signaling pathway, providing a new strategy for the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis-induced liver injury.
脓毒症的严重程度归因于导致肝损伤的过度炎症反应。孕烷X受体(PXR)是一种控制外源性和内源性物质代谢的核受体,已被证明参与调节炎症和肝脏再生。本研究旨在探讨PXR在脓毒症诱导的肝损伤中的作用及其潜在机制。在小鼠中建立脓毒症模型,预先连续3天给小鼠腹腔注射典型的小鼠PXR激动剂PCN(100 mg·kg·d),在最后一次注射PCN 1小时后进行盲肠结扎穿孔(CLP)手术或给予脂多糖(LPS)。结果表明,PCN预处理显著提高了脓毒症小鼠的存活率,而敲除Pxr后存活率降低。此外,PCN预处理有效减轻了脓毒症诱导的肝损伤。在Pxr基因敲除小鼠中,肝损伤更严重,而PCN预处理的保护作用被消除。机制上,PCN预处理显著上调Yes相关蛋白(YAP)及其下游靶点的表达,并降低磷酸化核因子κB(NF-κB)的水平。此外,肝脏特异性敲低Yap可阻断PCN预处理对脓毒症诱导的肝损伤的保护作用,并下调NF-κB的磷酸化水平。总之,本研究表明,PXR激活通过激活YAP信号通路保护免受脓毒症诱导的肝损伤,为脓毒症诱导的肝损伤的诊断和治疗提供了新策略。