scholarly journals Diet-induced obesity promotes infection by impairment of the innate antimicrobial defense function of dermal adipocyte progenitors

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (577) ◽  
pp. eabb5280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling-juan Zhang ◽  
Christian F. Guerrero-Juarez ◽  
Stella X. Chen ◽  
Xiaowei Zhang ◽  
Meimei Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skin Infection ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Major Complication ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Diet Induced Obesity ◽  
Tgfβ Receptor ◽  
Adipocyte Progenitors

Infections are a major complication of obesity, but the mechanisms responsible for impaired defense against microbes are not well understood. Here, we found that adipocyte progenitors were lost from the dermis during diet-induced obesity (DIO) in humans and mice. The loss of adipogenic fibroblasts from mice resulted in less antimicrobial peptide production and greatly increased susceptibility to Staphylococcus aureus infection. The decrease in adipocyte progenitors in DIO mice was explained by expression of transforming growth factor–β (TGFβ) by mature adipocytes that then inhibited adipocyte progenitors and the production of cathelicidin in vitro. Administration of a TGFβ receptor inhibitor or a peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor–γ agonist reversed this inhibition in both cultured adipocyte progenitors and in mice and subsequently restored the capacity of obese mice to defend against S. aureus skin infection. Together, these results explain how obesity promotes dysfunction of the antimicrobial function of reactive dermal adipogenesis and identifies potential therapeutic targets to manage skin infection associated with obesity.

scholarly journals Hemicentin 1 influences podocyte dynamic changes in glomerular diseases

2018 ◽  
Vol 314 (6) ◽  
pp. F1154-F1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Toffoli ◽  
Cristina Zennaro ◽  
Carine Winkler ◽  
Greta Maria Paola Giordano Attianese ◽  
Stella Bernardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetic Nephropathy ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Puromycin Aminonucleoside ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Glomerular Diseases ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Glomerular Damage

Different complex mechanisms control the morphology of podocyte foot processes and their interactions with the underlying basement membrane. Injuries to this system often cause glomerular dysfunction and albuminuria. The present study aimed at identifying early markers of glomerular damage in diabetic nephropathy. For this purpose, we performed a microarray analysis on kidneys of 3-wk-old peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ)-null and AZIP/F1 mice, which are two models of diabetic nephropathy due to lipodystrophy. This was followed by functional annotation of the enriched clusters of genes. One of the significant changes in the early stages of glomerular damage was the increase of hemicentin 1 (HMCN1). Its expression and distribution were then studied by real-time PCR and immunofluorescence in various models of glomerular damage and on podocyte cell cultures. HMCN1 progressively increased in the glomeruli of diabetic mice, according to disease severity, as well as in puromycin aminonucleoside (PA)-treated rats. Studies on murine and human podocytes showed an increased HMCN1 deposition upon different pathological stimuli, such as hyperglycemia, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), and PA. In vitro silencing studies showed that HMCN1 mediated the rearrangements of podocyte cytoskeleton induced by TGF-β. Finally, we demonstrated an increased expression of HMCN1 in the kidneys of patients with proteinuric nephropathies. In summary, our studies identified HMCN1 as a new molecule involved in the dynamic changes of podocyte foot processes. Its increased expression associated with podocyte dysfunction points to HMCN1 as a possible marker for the early glomerular damage occurring in different proteinuric nephropathies.

scholarly journals Transforming growth factor β suppresses peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ expression via both SMAD binding and novel TGF-β inhibitory elements

2017 ◽  
Vol 474 (9) ◽  
pp. 1531-1546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sowmya P. Lakshmi ◽  
Aravind T. Reddy ◽  
Raju C. Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Nuclear Hormone Receptor ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Signaling Mechanisms ◽  
Target Promoter

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) contributes to wound healing and, when dysregulated, to pathological fibrosis. TGF-β and the anti-fibrotic nuclear hormone receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) repress each other's expression, and such PPARγ down-regulation is prominent in fibrosis and mediated, via previously unknown SMAD-signaling mechanisms. Here, we show that TGF-β induces the association of SMAD3 with both SMAD4, needed for translocation of the complex into the nucleus, and the essential context-sensitive co-repressors E2F4 and p107. The complex mediates TGF-β-induced repression by binding to regulatory elements in the target promoter. In the PPARG promoter, we found that the SMAD3–SMAD4 complex binds both to a previously unknown consensus TGF-β inhibitory element (TIE) and also to canonical SMAD-binding elements (SBEs). Furthermore, the TIE and SBEs independently mediated the partial repression of PPARG transcription, the first demonstration of a TIE and SBEs functioning within the same promoter. Also, TGF-β-treated fibroblasts contained SMAD complexes that activated a SMAD target gene in addition to those repressing PPARG transcription, the first finding of such dual activity within the same cell. These findings describe in detail novel mechanisms by which TGF-β represses PPARG transcription, thereby facilitating its own pro-fibrotic activity.

Disruption of transforming growth factor-β signaling by curcumin induces gene expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ in rat hepatic stellate cells

2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. G113-G123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shizhong Zheng ◽  
Anping Chen
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Hepatic Stellate Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Gene Promoter ◽  
Stellate Cells ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator ◽  
Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor ◽  
Ppar Γ

Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC), the major effectors of hepatic fibrogenesis, is coupled with sequential alterations in gene expression, including an increase in receptors for transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and a dramatic reduction in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ). The relationship between them remains obscure. We previously demonstrated that curcumin induced gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC, leading to reducing cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis and suppressing expression of extracellular matrix genes. The underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. We recently observed that stimulation of PPAR-γ activation suppressed gene expression of TGF-β receptors in activated HSC, leading to the interruption of TGF-β signaling. This observation supported our assumption of an antagonistic relationship between PPAR-γ activation and TGF-β signaling in HSC. In this study, we further hypothesize that TGF-β signaling might negatively regulate gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC. The present report demonstrates that exogenous TGF-β1 inhibits gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC, which is eliminated by the pretreatment with curcumin likely by interrupting TGF-β signaling. Transfection assays further indicate that blocking TGF-β signaling by dominant negative type II TGF-β receptor increases the promoter activity of PPAR-γ gene. Promoter deletion assays, site-directed mutageneses, and gel shift assays localize two Smad binding elements (SBEs) in the PPAR-γ gene promoter, acting as curcumin response elements and negatively regulating the promoter activity in passaged HSC. The Smad3/4 protein complex specifically binds to the SBEs. Overexpression of Smad4 dose dependently eliminates the inhibitory effects of curcumin on the PPAR-γ gene promoter and TGF-β signaling. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the interruption of TGF-β signaling by curcumin induces gene expression of PPAR-γ in activated HSC in vitro. Our studies provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of curcumin in the induction of PPAR-γ gene expression and in the inhibition of HSC activation.

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