Accumulation of citrullinated glial fibrillary acidic protein in a mouse model of bile duct ligation-induced hepatic fibrosis

PLoS One. 2018 Aug 2;13(8):e0201744. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201744. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play pivotal roles in hepatic fibrosis as they synthesize glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), which is increased in activated HSCs. GFAP-expressing HSCs and myofibroblasts accumulate in and around hepatic fibrosis lesions. Peptidylarginine deiminase 2 (PAD2) is responsible for the citrullination of GFAP (cit-GFAP). However, the involvement of PAD2 and cit-GFAP in hepatic fibrosis remains unclear. To determine the expression of PAD2 and cit-GFAP in hepatic fibrosis, C57BL/6 mice underwent bile duct ligation (BDL) or a sham operation. In BDL livers, the expression of PAD2 and its enzyme activity were significantly increased compared with controls. In addition, PAD2-postitive cells were rarely observed in only the portal vein and the small bile duct in sham-operated livers, whereas an increased number of PAD2-positive cells were detected in the bile duct and Glisson's sheath in BDL livers. Interestingly, PAD2 was colocalized with α-SMA-positive cells and CK19-positive cells in BDL livers, indicating upregulated PAD2 in activated HSCs and portal fibroblasts of the livers of BDL mice. We also found that citrullinated proteins were highly accumulated in the livers of BDL mice compared with controls. Moreover, the expression level of GFAP and the amount of cit-GFAP were higher in BDL livers than in control livers. In correlation with PAD2 localization, cit-GFAP was observed in α-SMA-positive and CK19-positive cells in the livers of BDL mice. These results suggest that the increased expression and activation of PAD2 along with increased citrullinated proteins, specifically cit-GFAP, may play important roles in the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actins / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Bile Ducts / injuries
  • Bile Ducts / metabolism
  • Bile Ducts / pathology
  • Citrullination
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fibroblasts / metabolism
  • Fibroblasts / pathology
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / metabolism*
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Liver / pathology
  • Liver Cirrhosis / metabolism*
  • Liver Cirrhosis / pathology
  • Male
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Portal Vein / metabolism
  • Portal Vein / pathology
  • Protein-Arginine Deiminase Type 2
  • Protein-Arginine Deiminases / metabolism
  • Random Allocation

Substances

  • Actins
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
  • alpha-smooth muscle actin, mouse
  • glial fibrillary astrocytic protein, mouse
  • Padi2 protein, mouse
  • Protein-Arginine Deiminase Type 2
  • Protein-Arginine Deiminases

Grants and funding

Sung Eun Kim was supported by a grant of the basic science research programme through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (grant number: 2017R1C1B1005996) and Myoung Kuk Jang and Sung Eun Kim were supported by a Hallym University Research Fund (HURF-2015-56).