Integrin alphavbeta6 is a marker of the progression of biliary and portal liver fibrosis and a novel target for antifibrotic therapies

Popov, Yury; Patsenker, Eleonora; Stickel, Felix; Zaks, Jessica; Bhaskar, K Ramakrishnan; Niedobitek, Gerald; Kolb, Armin; Friess, Helmut; Schuppan, Detlef (2008). Integrin alphavbeta6 is a marker of the progression of biliary and portal liver fibrosis and a novel target for antifibrotic therapies. Journal of hepatology, 48(3), pp. 453-64. Amsterdam: Elsevier 10.1016/j.jhep.2007.11.021

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BACKGROUND/AIMS: The integrin alphavbeta6 promotes proliferation of specialized epithelia and acts as a receptor for the activation of latent TGFbeta1. We studied alphavbeta6 expression in experimental and human liver fibrosis and the potential of its pharmacological inhibition for treatment of hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: alphavbeta6 expression was studied by quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry in rats with cirrhosis due to bile duct ligation (BDL), administration of thioacetamide (TAA), in Mdr2(Abcb4)(-/-) mice with spontaneous biliary fibrosis, and in livers of patients with chronic hepatitis C (n=79) and end-stage liver disease due to various etiologies (n=18). The effect of a selective alphavbeta6 inhibitor was evaluated in Mdr2(Abcb4)(-/-) mice with ongoing fibrogenesis. RESULTS: Integrin beta6 mRNA increased with fibrosis stage in hepatitis C and was upregulated between 25- and 100-fold in TAA- and BDL-induced cirrhosis, in Mdr2(Abcb4)(-/-) mice and in human end-stage liver disease. alphavbeta6 protein was absent in normal livers and expressed de novo on (activated) bile duct epithelia and transitional hepatocytes. A single dose of the alphavbeta6 inhibitor injected into Mdr2(Abcb4)(-/-) mice significantly induced profibrolytic matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-8 and -9 after 3 h, with a corresponding increase in extracellular matrix-degrading activities. In parallel profibrogenic transcripts (procollagen alpha1(I), TGFbeta2, and MMP-2) showed a trend of downregulation. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Integrin alphavbeta6 is induced de novo in rodent and human liver fibrosis, where it is expressed on activated bile duct epithelia and (transitional) hepatocytes during fibrosis progression. (2) In vivo a single dose of a small molecule alphavbeta6 inhibitor induced antifibrogenic and profibrolytic genes and activities, suggesting alphavbeta6 is a unique target for treatment of liver fibrosis.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and Visceral Research [discontinued] 04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gastro-intestinal, Liver and Lung Disorders (DMLL) > Clinic of Visceral Surgery and Medicine > Hepatology
UniBE Contributor:	Patsenker, Eleanora, Stickel, Felix
ISSN:	0168-8278
ISBN:	18221819
Publisher:	Elsevier
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 15:05
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:20
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.jhep.2007.11.021
PubMed ID:	18221819
Web of Science ID:	000254094100010
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/28363 (FactScience: 120286)