Detailseite
Projekt Druckansicht

Modulation von Entzündungsvorgängen und Fibrose der Leber durch das Interleukin-1 Homolog IL-37

Fachliche Zuordnung Kinder- und Jugendmedizin
Förderung Förderung von 2015 bis 2020
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 288401774
 
Erstellungsjahr 2020

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

Chronic inflammation is an important trigger of liver fibrogenesis. Although well described, inflammatory pathways have received little attention as therapeutic targets for chronic liver diseases. IL-37 has proven to exert broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory effects in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, IL-37 interferes with the TGF-β signaling pathway by interaction with Smad3. Since TGF-β is a core cytokine involved in liver fibrogenesis we hypothesized that IL-37 modulates liver fibrosis by functional interaction with the TGF-β signaling pathway. Here we show that transgene expression of IL-37 in mice is associated with prolonged survival, reduced hepatic damage and early fibrosis markers as well as less histologically proven liver fibrosis after bile duct ligation (BDL). IL-37tg mice were also protected against CCl4-induced liver inflammation. In addition, colitis-associated liver inflammation and fibrosis was less severe in IL-10 knockout mice expressing IL-37. Spontaneous as well as LPS/TGF-β-induced cytokine release and pro-fibrogenic gene expression was lower in hepatic stellate and Kupffer cells isolated from IL- 37tg mice and IL-37 overexpressing, IL-1β- or LPS-stimulated human LX-2 stellate, RAW264.7 and A549 cells. However, administration of recombinant human IL-37 did not modulate fibrosis pathways after BDL in mice, in LX2 cells or murine HSCs. We therefore conclude that predominantly intracellular IL-37 down-regulates pathways of liver inflammation and fibrosis. In addition to our functional studies we show that IL-37 expression is increased in pediatric autoinflammatory liver diseases and correlates with fibrosis, serum transaminases, alkaline phosphatase and IgG. In addition, we demonstrate in a large cohort of adults with chronic liver diseases elevated serum IL-37 levels correlating with clinical markers of liver fibrosis. In summary, our results indicate that IL-37 may represent a novel target to modulate the clinical course of chronic liver diseases.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

Zusatzinformationen

Textvergrößerung und Kontrastanpassung