Cofilin-1 promotes fibrocyte differentiation and contributes to pulmonary fibrosis

Wei Guo; Ting Guo; Qianhui Zhou; Yaomei Long; Man Luo; Qinxue Shen; Wang Duan; Xiaoli Ouyang; Hong Peng

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.05.085

Cofilin-1 promotes fibrocyte differentiation and contributes to pulmonary fibrosis

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2021 Aug 6:565:43-49. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.05.085. Epub 2021 Jun 2.

Authors

Wei Guo¹, Ting Guo¹, Qianhui Zhou², Yaomei Long¹, Man Luo¹, Qinxue Shen¹, Wang Duan¹, Xiaoli Ouyang¹, Hong Peng³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central-South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Research Unit of Respiratory Disease, Central-South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; The Respiratory Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China.
² Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central-South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Research Unit of Respiratory Disease, Central-South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; The Respiratory Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China; Second Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhuzhou Hospital Affiliated to Xiangya School of Medicine, CSU, Zhuzhou, Hunan, China.
³ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central-South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Research Unit of Respiratory Disease, Central-South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; The Respiratory Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China. Electronic address: penghong66@csu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34090209
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.05.085

Abstract

Fibrocytes originate from the bone marrow monocyte lineage and participate in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. Research providing a comprehensive picture of fibrocytes is still limited. Cofilin-1 (CFL-1) is an important protein that regulates cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. Whether CFL-1 can induce monocyte differentiation into fibrocytes and promote the process of pulmonary fibrosis is unknown. Compared with that of healthy controls, the expression of CFL-1 was significantly increased in the plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) patients (P < 0.05). The percentages of peripheral blood fibrocytes in the IPF group (4.2550 ± 0.3483%) and CTD-ILD group (4.7100 ± 0.4811%) were higher than that in the control group (1.6340 ± 0.2549%) (both P < 0.05). In vitro, PBMCs transfected with siRNA-CFL-1 showed lower expression of CFL-1, and the percentage of fibrocytes was lower than that of the control (P < 0.05). PBMCs transfected with Lv-CFL-1 to increase the expression of CFL-1 showed a higher percentage of fibrocytes than the control (P < 0.05). In mice with bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, the relative expression of CFL-1 was increased, and the percentage of fibrocytes was higher than that in the saline group (P < 0.05). In bleomycin-induced mice, interference with Lv-CFL-1 decreased the expression of CFL-1, the percentage of fibrocytes was lower, and the lung tissue showed less fibrosis (P < 0.05). The overexpression of CFL-1 is associated with pulmonary fibrogenesis. CFL-1 could promote the differentiation of fibrocytes from monocyte peripheral blood mononuclear cells and promote pulmonary fibrosis.

Keywords: Cofilin-1; Differentiation; Fibrocytes; Monocyte peripheral blood mononuclear cells; Pulmonary fibrosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cell Differentiation
Cells, Cultured
Cofilin 1 / metabolism*
Fibroblasts / metabolism*
Humans
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis / metabolism*
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis / pathology

Substances

CFL1 protein, human
Cofilin 1