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  3. Enhanced oxidative stress aggravates BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis by promoting cellular senescence through enhancing NLRP3 activation

Enhanced oxidative stress aggravates BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis by promoting cellular senescence through enhancing NLRP3 activation

  • Life Sci. 2024 Dec 1:358:123128. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2024.123128.
Jiukang Feng 1,  Hui Liu 2,  Kewei Jiang 3,  Xinyu Gong 1,  Rong Huang 1,  Chao Zhou 1,  Jiali Mao 4,  Yuanli Chen 1,  Hongmei Xu 1,  Xiaoming Zhang 5,  Xiaoxiao Yang 6,  Dahai Zhao 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Anhui Provincial International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Major Metabolic Diseases and Nutritional Interventions, Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Regulation for Major Diseases of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, College of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China.
  • 2 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
  • 3 Department of Geriatrics, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University & The First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, China.
  • 4 Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
  • 5 School of Basic Medicine Science, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
  • 6 Anhui Provincial International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Major Metabolic Diseases and Nutritional Interventions, Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Regulation for Major Diseases of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, College of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China. Electronic address: yangxiaoxiao@hfut.edu.cn.
  • 7 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: zhaodahai@ahmu.edu.cn.
PMID: 39393575 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2024.123128
Abstract

Aims: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease associated with aging, where increased oxidative stress accelerates the progression of pulmonary fibrosis (PF). The specific mechanisms through which oxidative stress intensifies PF are still not fully understood.

Materials and methods: In this study, we used bleomycin (BLM)-induced PF mouse model and TGF-β-induced collagen deposition cells for in vivo and in vitro experiments, respectively. Additionally, we employed BSO, a glutathione synthesis inhibitor, to induce excess Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).

Key findings: Our findings revealed that heightened ROS production significantly exacerbated PF development in mice and increased collagen deposition in A549 cells. We also showed that cellular senescence was further intensified by the combined treatment of BSO with BLM or TGF-β, as indicated by the increased levels of p53 and p21, along with an increase in β-galactosidase-positive cells. Moreover, inflammatory responses, including inflammatory cells, inflammatory cytokines, and ROS levels were dramatically increased with the BSO and BLM or TGF-β combination. Mechanistically, we found that NLRP3 inflammasome was activated more significantly by the combined treatments of BSO with BLM or TGF-β. Inhibition of NLRP3 ameliorated the aging-related phenotype and reduced p53 and p21 expression. Furthermore, we showed that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment significantly attenuated BLM or BLM plus BSO-enhanced PF in vivo.

Significance: Our study demonstrates that elevated ROS levels contribute to the development of PF via NLRP3-mediated cellular senescence. We also provide that targeting oxidative stress might be an effective strategy for treating PF.

Keywords

Bleomycin; NLRP3; Pulmonary fibrosis; ROS; Senescence.

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