Boonkaew Bootsakorn, Satthawiwat Nantawat, Pachane Bianca C, Brett Lucy M, Tangkijvanich Pisit, Ariyachet Chaiyaboot
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Center of Excellence in Hepatitis and Liver Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Noncoding RNA Res. 2025 Apr 28;13:71-83. doi: 10.1016/j.ncrna.2025.04.007. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is characterized by a complicated interaction of lipotoxicity and inflammation in the liver, yet the mechanisms linking these phenomena remain incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated the mechanistic uptake of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from macrophages into palmitic acid (PA)-induced lipotoxic hepatoma cells. By co-culturing macrophages with lipotoxic Huh7 cells in a transwell system, we demonstrated that PA-treated Huh7 cells exhibited impaired uptake of macrophage-derived EVs. Compared with control Huh7 cells, PA-treated Huh7 cells presented a reduction in the expression of macrophage-derived microRNA-223 (miR-223) after co-culture, accompanied by an increase in the expression of miR-223 target genes. Further analysis revealed that upon PA treatment, the expression of low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) in Huh7 cells and EV uptake activity were simultaneously diminished. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments of LDLR in Huh7 cells revealed a crucial role of LDLR in facilitating EV uptake. Mechanistically, we elucidated that PA induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and subsequently stimulated proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9)-mediated LDLR degradation. Administration of a PCSK9 inhibitor rescued LDLR levels and increased EV uptake in PA-treated Huh7 cells from macrophages. Moreover, we found that the uptake of macrophage-derived EVs lacking apolipoprotein E (ApoE) by Huh7 cells was lower than that of control EVs, highlighting the role of ApoE as a facilitator of EV transfer from macrophages into Huh7 cells. Overall, our study highlights the intricate mechanisms underlying EV-mediated communication between macrophages and Huh7 cells during lipotoxicity and provides insight into the development of EV-based therapies for MASLD.
代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病(MASLD)的特征是肝脏中脂毒性和炎症之间存在复杂的相互作用,但将这些现象联系起来的机制仍未完全了解。在本研究中,我们研究了巨噬细胞衍生的细胞外囊泡(EVs)被棕榈酸(PA)诱导的脂毒性肝癌细胞摄取的机制。通过在Transwell系统中将巨噬细胞与脂毒性Huh7细胞共培养,我们证明PA处理的Huh7细胞对巨噬细胞衍生的EVs的摄取受损。与对照Huh7细胞相比,共培养后PA处理的Huh7细胞中巨噬细胞衍生的微小RNA-223(miR-223)表达降低,同时miR-223靶基因的表达增加。进一步分析表明,PA处理后,Huh7细胞中低密度脂蛋白受体(LDLR)的表达和EV摄取活性同时降低。Huh7细胞中LDLR的功能获得和丧失实验揭示了LDLR在促进EV摄取中的关键作用。从机制上看,我们阐明PA诱导内质网应激,随后刺激前蛋白转化酶枯草杆菌蛋白酶/kexin 9型(PCSK9)介导的LDLR降解。给予PCSK9抑制剂可恢复LDLR水平,并增加PA处理的Huh7细胞从巨噬细胞摄取EVs的能力。此外,我们发现Huh7细胞对缺乏载脂蛋白E(ApoE)的巨噬细胞衍生的EVs的摄取低于对照EVs,突出了ApoE作为EV从巨噬细胞转移到Huh7细胞的促进因子的作用。总体而言,我们的研究突出了脂毒性期间巨噬细胞与Huh7细胞之间EV介导的通讯的复杂机制,并为基于EV的MASLD治疗的发展提供了见解。
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