scholarly journals Therapeutic interleukin-6 blockade reverses transforming growth factor-beta pathway activation in dermal fibroblasts: insights from the faSScinate clinical trial in systemic sclerosis

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (9) ◽  
pp. 1362-1371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P Denton ◽  
Voon H Ong ◽  
Shiwen Xu ◽  
Haiyin Chen-Harris ◽  
Zora Modrusan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Sclerosis ◽  
Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Beta ◽  
Interleukin 6 ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Dermal Fibroblasts ◽  
Sequencing Analysis ◽  
Growth Factor Beta

ObjectivesSkin fibrosis mediated by activated dermal fibroblasts is a hallmark of systemic sclerosis (SSc), especially in the subset of patients with diffuse disease. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are key candidate mediators in SSc. Our aim was to elucidate the specific effect of IL-6 pathway blockade on the biology of SSc fibroblasts in vivo by using samples from a unique clinical experiment—the faSScinate study—in which patients with SSc were treated for 24 weeks with tocilizumab (TCZ), an IL-6 receptor-α inhibitor.MethodsWe analysed the molecular, functional and genomic characteristics of explant fibroblasts cultured from matched skin biopsy samples collected at baseline and at week 24 from 12 patients receiving placebo (n=6) or TCZ (n=6) and compared these with matched healthy control fibroblast strains.ResultsThe hallmark functional and molecular-activated phenotype was defined in SSc samples and was stable over 24 weeks in placebo-treated cases. RNA sequencing analysis robustly defined key dysregulated pathways likely to drive SSc fibroblast activation in vivo. Treatment with TCZ for 24 weeks profoundly altered the biological characteristics of explant dermal fibroblasts by normalising functional properties and reversing gene expression profiles dominated by TGFβ-regulated genes and molecular pathways.ConclusionsWe demonstrated the exceptional value of using explant dermal fibroblast cultures from a well-designed trial in SSc to provide a molecular framework linking IL-6 to key profibrotic pathways. The profound impact of IL-6R blockade on the activated fibroblast phenotype highlights the potential of IL-6 as a therapeutic target in SSc and other fibrotic diseases.Trial registration numberNCT01532869; Post-results.

Collagen matrices attenuate the collagen-synthetic response of cultured fibroblasts to TGF-beta

1995 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 1251-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.A. Clark ◽  
L.D. Nielsen ◽  
M.P. Welch ◽  
J.M. McPherson
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Granulation Tissue ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Beta ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Collagen Matrix ◽  
Dermal Fibroblasts ◽  
Type I ◽  
Collagen Gels ◽  
Type I Procollagen ◽  
Growth Factor Beta

Transforming growth factor-beta, a potent modulator of cell function, induces fibroblasts cultured on plastic to increase collagen synthesis. In 5- and 7-day porcine skin wounds, which have minimal to moderate collagen matrix, respectively, transforming growth factor-beta and type I procollagen were coordinately expressed throughout the granulation tissue. However, in 10-day collagen-rich granulation tissue type I procollagen expression diminished despite persistence of transforming growth factor-beta. To investigate whether collagen matrix attenuates the collagen-synthetic response of fibroblasts to transforming growth factor-beta, we cultured human dermal fibroblasts in conditions that simulate collagen-rich granulation tissue. Therefore, human dermal fibroblasts were suspended in attached collagen gels and collagen and noncollagen production was assayed in the absence and presence of transforming growth factor-beta. Although transforming growth factor-beta stimulated collagen synthesis by fibroblasts cultured in the collagen gels, these fibroblasts consistently produced less collagen than similarly treated fibroblasts cultured on plastic. This phenomenon was not secondary to nonspecific binding of transforming growth factor-beta to the collagen matrix. Fibroblasts cultured in a fibrin gel responded to transforming growth factor-beta similarly to fibroblasts cultured on plastic. Using immunofluorescence probes to type I procollagen, we observed that transforming growth factor-beta increased type I procollagen expression in most fibroblasts cultured on plastic, but only in occasional fibroblasts cultured in collagen gels. From these data we conclude that collagen matrices attenuate the collagen synthetic response of fibroblast to transforming growth factor-beta in vitro and possibly in vivo.

In vitro modulation of endothelial fenestrae: opposing effects of retinoic acid and transforming growth factor beta

1988 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-318
Author(s):  
T. Lombardi ◽  
R. Montesano ◽  
M.B. Furie ◽  
S.C. Silverstein ◽  
L. Orci
Keyword(s):  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Beta ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Control Cell ◽  
Tgf Beta ◽  
Growth Factor Beta

Cultured endothelial cells isolated from fenestrated capillaries express many properties characteristic of their in vivo differentiated phenotype, including the formation of a limited number of fenestrae. In this study, we have investigated whether physiological factors that control cell differentiation might regulate the surface density of fenestrae in capillary endothelial cells. We have found that treatment of the cultures with retinoic acid (10 microM) induces a more than threefold increase in the surface density of endothelial fenestrae, whereas transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) (2 ng ml-1) causes a sevenfold decrease in the surface density of these structures. These results show that the expression of endothelial fenestrae is susceptible to bidirectional modulation by physiological signals, and suggest that retinoids and TGF beta may participate in the regulation of fenestral density of capillary endothelium in vivo.

scholarly journals Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) induced neutrophil recruitment to synovial tissues: implications for TGF-beta-driven synovial inflammation and hyperplasia.

1991 ◽  
Vol 173 (5) ◽  
pp. 1121-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
R A Fava ◽  
N J Olsen ◽  
A E Postlethwaite ◽  
K N Broadley ◽  
J M Davidson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Synovial Tissue ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Beta ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Tgf Beta ◽  
Histological Techniques ◽  
Growth Factor Beta

We have studied the consequences of introducing human recombinant transforming growth factor beta 1 (hrTGF-beta 1) into synovial tissue of the rat, to begin to better understand the significance of the fact that biologically active TGF-beta is found in human arthritic synovial effusions. Within 4-6 h after the intra-articular injection of 1 microgram of hrTGF-beta 1 into rat knee joints, extensive recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) was observed. Cytochemistry and high resolution histological techniques were used to quantitate the influx of PMNs, which peaked 6 h post-injection. In a Boyden chamber assay, hrTGF-beta 1 at 1-10 fg/ml elicited a chemotactic response from PMNs greater in magnitude than that evoked by FMLP, establishing that TGF-beta 1 is an effective chemotactic agent for PMNs in vitro as well as in vivo. That PMNs may represent an important source of TGF-beta in inflammatory infiltrates was strongly suggested by a demonstration that stored TGF-beta 1 was secreted during phorbol myristate acetate-stimulated degranulation in vitro. Acid/ethanol extracts of human PMNs assayed by ELISA contained an average of 355 ng of TGF/beta 1 per 10(9) cells potentially available for secretion during degranulation of PMNs. [3H]Thymidine incorporation in vivo and autoradiography of tissue sections revealed that widespread cell proliferation was triggered by TGF-beta 1 injection. Synovial lining cells and cells located deep within the subsynovial connective tissue were identified as sources of at least some of the new cells that contribute to TGF-beta 1-induced hyperplasia. Our results demonstrate that TGF-beta is capable of exerting pathogenic effects on synovial tissue and that PMNs may represent a significant source of the TGF-beta present in synovial effusions.

scholarly journals Stimulation of the chemotactic migration of human fibroblasts by transforming growth factor beta.

1987 ◽  
Vol 165 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
A E Postlethwaite ◽  
J Keski-Oja ◽  
H L Moses ◽  
A H Kang
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Beta ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Human Fibroblasts ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Dermal Fibroblasts ◽  
Type I ◽  
Tgf Beta ◽  
Chemotactic Migration ◽  
Growth Factor Beta

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is a potent chemoattractant in vitro for human dermal fibroblasts. Intact disulfide and perhaps the dimeric structure of TGF-beta is essential for its ability to stimulate chemotactic migration of fibroblasts, since reduction with 2-ME results in a marked loss of its potency as a chemoattractant. Although epidermal growth factor (EGF) appears to be capable of modulating some effects of TGF-beta, it does not alter the chemotactic response of fibroblasts to TGF-beta. Specific polyvalent rabbit antibodies to homogeneously pure TGF-beta block its chemotactic activity but has no effect on the other chemoattractants tested (platelet-derived growth factor, fibronectin, and denatured type I collagen). Since TGF-beta is secreted by a variety of neoplastic and normal cells including platelets, monocytes/macrophages, and lymphocytes, it may play a critical role in vivo in embryogenesis, host response to tumors, and the repair response that follows damage to tissues by immune and nonimmune reactions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document