Caveolin-1 Promotes the Imbalance of Th17/Treg in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease by Regulating Hsp70 Expression

Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2023 Apr 12:18:565-574. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S398780. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether the expression of Hsp70 is associated with Cav-1 in promoting the imbalance of Th17/Treg cells in COPD.

Methods: The plasma Cav-1, Hsp70 expression were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The frequencies of circulating Th17, Treg cells and Th17/Treg ratio were determined by flow cytometry. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from subjects were transfected with Cav-1 or control plasmids and Hsp70 plasmid.

Results: We found that Cav-1 expression was lower but the levels of Hsp70 and Th17 cells were higher in COPD than in healthy control (HC). Hsp70 expressions were positively correlated with Cav-1 levels, Th17 cells, and Th17/Treg ratio in COPD but not in HC. Cav-1 over-expression resulted in an increase in Hsp70 and Th17 levels. Suppressing Hsp70 expressing by small interfering RNA (siRNA), the decline of Th17 frequency was observed in Cav-1-overexpressed PBMCs.

Conclusion: Collectively, our results illuminate that Cav-1 contributes to the imbalance of Th17/Treg through potentially regulating Hsp70 expression.

Keywords: COPD; Foxp3+ Treg cells; Hsp70; IL-17+ Th17 cells; caveolin-1.

MeSH terms

  • Caveolin 1* / genetics
  • Caveolin 1* / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear / metabolism
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / diagnosis
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / genetics
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory* / metabolism
  • Th17 Cells* / metabolism

Substances

  • Caveolin 1
  • CAV1 protein, human

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Qingdao Outstanding Health Professional Development Fund; Qingdao 2017, 2018 medical and health research plan project (2017-WJZD061, 2018-WJZD048); Qingdao Science and Technology Project (for Benefiting the People, 19-6-1-27-nsh) and Qingdao Key Disciplines of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This work is also partially supported by Medical and Health Technology Development Program of Shandong Province (No. 2016WS0324) and Qing Dao Expert Workstation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.