NPAS2 Contributes to Liver Fibrosis by Direct Transcriptional Activation of Hes1 in Hepatic Stellate Cells

Abstract

Recently, emerging evidence shows that dysregulation of circadian genes is closely associated with liver fibrosis. However, how dysregulation of circadian genes promotes liver fibrosis is unknown. In this study, we show that neuronal PAS domain protein 2 (NPAS2), one of the core circadian molecules that has been shown to promote hepatocarcinoma cell proliferation, significantly contributed to liver fibrogenesis. NPAS2 is upregulated in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) after fibrogenic injury, which subsequently contributes to the activation of HSCs. Mechanistically, NPAS2 plays a profibrotic role via direct transcriptional activation of hairy and enhancer of split 1 (Hes1), a critical transcriptor of Notch signaling for the fibrogenesis process, in HSCs. Our findings demonstrate that NPAS2 plays a critical role in liver fibrosis through direct transcriptional activation of Hes1, indicating that NPAS2 may serve as an important therapeutic target to reverse the progression of liver fibrosis.

Keywords: Hes1; circadian gene; hepatic stellate cell; liver fibrosis; neuronal PAS domain protein 2.