Background & Aims: Intestinal fibrosis is a long-term complication in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that frequently results in functional damage, bowel obstruction, and surgery. Interleukin (IL) 36 is a group of cytokines in the IL1 family with inflammatory effects. We studied the expression of IL36 and its receptor, interleukin 1 receptor like 2 (IL1RL2 or IL36R) in the development of intestinal fibrosis in human tissues and mice.
Methods: We obtained intestinal tissues from 92 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 48 patients with ulcerative colitis, and 26 patients without inflammatory bowel diseases (control individuals). Tissues were analyzed by histology to detect fibrosis and by immunohistochemistry to determine the distribution of fibroblasts and levels of IL36R ligands. Human and mouse fibroblasts were incubated with IL36 or control medium, and transcriptome-wide RNA sequences were analyzed. Mice were given neutralizing antibodies against IL36R, and we studied intestinal tissues from Il1rl2 mice; colitis and fibrosis were induced in mice by repetitive administration of DSS or TNBS. Bone marrow cells were transplanted from Il1rl2 to irradiated wild-type mice and intestinal tissues were analyzed. Antibodies against IL36R were applied to mice with established chronic colitis and fibrosis and intestinal tissues were studied.
Results: Mucosal and submucosal tissue from patients with CD or ulcerative colitis had higher levels of collagens, including type VI collagen, compared with tissue from control individuals. In tissues from patients with fibrostenotic CD, significantly higher levels of IL36A were noted, which correlated with high numbers of activated fibroblasts that expressed α-smooth muscle actin. IL36R activation of mouse and human fibroblasts resulted in expression of genes that regulate fibrosis and tissue remodeling, as well as expression of collagen type VI. Il1rl2 mice and mice given injections of an antibody against IL36R developed less severe colitis and fibrosis after administration of DSS or TNBS, but bone marrow cells from Il1rl2 mice did not prevent induction of colitis and fibrosis. Injection of antibodies against IL36R significantly reduced established fibrosis in mice with chronic intestinal inflammation.
Conclusion: We found higher levels of IL36A in fibrotic intestinal tissues from patients with IBD compared with control individuals. IL36 induced expression of genes that regulate fibrogenesis in fibroblasts. Inhibition or knockout of the IL36R gene in mice reduces chronic colitis and intestinal fibrosis. Agents designed to block IL36R signaling could be developed for prevention and treatment of intestinal fibrosis in patients with IBD.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2018.11.029 | DOI Listing |
Cardiovasc Res
January 2025
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany.
Aims: The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is composed of distinct sub-regions, which exhibit segment-specific differences in microbial colonization and (patho)physiological characteristics. Gut microbes can be collectively considered as an active endocrine organ. Microbes produce metabolites, which can be taken up by the host and can actively communicate with the immune cells in the gut lamina propria with consequences for cardiovascular health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Vis Exp
December 2024
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences, University of Minnesota;
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a superfamily of transmembrane proteins that initiate signaling cascades through activation of its G protein upon association with its ligand. In all mammalian vision, rhodopsin is the GPCR responsible for the initiation of the phototransduction cascade. Within photoreceptors, rhodopsin is bound to its chromophore 11-cis-retinal and is activated through the light-sensitive isomerization of 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal, which activates the transducin G protein, resulting in the phototransduction cascade.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes Obes Metab
January 2025
School of Exercise and Health, Shanghai Frontiers Science Research Base of Exercise and Metabolic Health, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Aims: To investigate the role of chemerin reduction in mediating exercise-induced Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion and the amelioration of pancreatic β-cell function in obesity.
Materials And Methods: Obesity models were established using wild-type and chemerin systemic knockout mice, followed by 8 weeks of moderate-intensity continuous aerobic exercise training. Serum chemerin levels, GLP-1 synthesis, glucose tolerance, pancreatic β-cell function, structure, and apoptosis were assessed.
Injured epithelial organs must rapidly replace damaged cells to restore barrier integrity and physiological function. In response, injury-born stem cell progeny differentiate faster compared to healthy-born counterparts, yet the mechanisms that pace differentia-tion are unclear. Using the adult Drosophila intestine, we find that injury speeds cell differentiation by altering the lateral inhibition circuit that transduces a fate-determin-ing Notch signal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/objectives: Obesity is associated with numerous metabolic complications including insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and a reduced capacity for physical activity. Whole-body ablation of liver fatty acid-binding protein (LFABP) in mice was shown to alleviate several of these metabolic complications; high fat (HF) fed LFABP knockout (LFABP ) mice developed higher fat mass than their wild-type (WT) counterparts but displayed a metabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotype with normoglycemia, normoinsulinemia, and reduced hepatic steatosis compared with WT. LFABP is expressed in both liver and intestine, thus in the present study, LFABP conditional knockout (cKO) mice were generated to determine the contributions of LFABP specifically within the liver or the intestine to the whole body phenotype of the global knockout.
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