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Aberrant nonfibrotic parenchyma in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is correlated with decreased β-catenin inhibition and increased Wnt5a/b interaction

Rydell-Törmänen, Kristina LU orcid ; Zhou, Xiao-Hong ; Hallgren, Oskar LU ; Einarsson, Jonas LU orcid ; Eriksson, Leif LU ; Andersson-Sjöland, Annika LU and Westergren-Thorsson, Gunilla LU orcid (2016) In Physiological Reports 4(5).
Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), an insidious disease with grave prognosis, is characterized by heterogeneous fibrosis with densely fibrotic areas surrounded by nonfibrotic normal-looking tissue, believed to reflect a temporal development. The etiology is incompletely elucidated, but aberrant wound healing is believed to be involved. Embryonic signaling pathways, including Wnt signaling, are reactivated in wound healing, and we therefore aimed to investigate Wnt signaling, and hypothesized that Wnt signaling would correspond to degree of fibrosis. Material from 10 patients with IPF were included (four diagnostic biopsies and six donated lungs) and compared to healthy controls (n = 7). We investigated markers of Wnt signaling... (More)

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), an insidious disease with grave prognosis, is characterized by heterogeneous fibrosis with densely fibrotic areas surrounded by nonfibrotic normal-looking tissue, believed to reflect a temporal development. The etiology is incompletely elucidated, but aberrant wound healing is believed to be involved. Embryonic signaling pathways, including Wnt signaling, are reactivated in wound healing, and we therefore aimed to investigate Wnt signaling, and hypothesized that Wnt signaling would correspond to degree of fibrosis. Material from 10 patients with IPF were included (four diagnostic biopsies and six donated lungs) and compared to healthy controls (n = 7). We investigated markers of Wnt signaling (β-catenin, Wnt3a, ICAT, Wnt5a/b, DAAM1 and NLK) histologically in lung parenchyma with variable degree of fibrosis. Our results suggest that Wnt signaling is significantly altered (P < 0.05) already in normal-looking parenchyma. The expression of Wnt3a and ICAT decreased (both P < 0.01) in IPF compared to healthy lungs, whereas β-catenin, Wnt5a/b, DAAM1 and NLK increased (P < 0.05 for all). ICAT is further decreased in dense fibrosis compared to normal-looking parenchyma in IPF (P < 0.001). On the basis of our results, we conclude that from a Wnt perspective, there is no normal parenchyma in IPF, and Wnt signaling corresponds to degree of fibrosis. In addition, β-catenin and Wnt5a appears coupled, and decreased inhibition of β-catenin may be involved. We suggest that the interaction between β-catenin, ICAT, and Wnt5a/b may represent an important research area and potential target for therapeutic intervention.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physiological Reports
volume
4
issue
5
article number
e12727
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • pmid:26997628
  • scopus:84962556784
  • wos:000380238000007
ISSN
2051-817X
DOI
10.14814/phy2.12727
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
364f606b-85da-49d0-9262-48646cfbe69c
date added to LUP
2016-04-13 15:24:09
date last changed
2024-03-21 21:29:24
@article{364f606b-85da-49d0-9262-48646cfbe69c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), an insidious disease with grave prognosis, is characterized by heterogeneous fibrosis with densely fibrotic areas surrounded by nonfibrotic normal-looking tissue, believed to reflect a temporal development. The etiology is incompletely elucidated, but aberrant wound healing is believed to be involved. Embryonic signaling pathways, including Wnt signaling, are reactivated in wound healing, and we therefore aimed to investigate Wnt signaling, and hypothesized that Wnt signaling would correspond to degree of fibrosis. Material from 10 patients with IPF were included (four diagnostic biopsies and six donated lungs) and compared to healthy controls (n = 7). We investigated markers of Wnt signaling (β-catenin, Wnt3a, ICAT, Wnt5a/b, DAAM1 and NLK) histologically in lung parenchyma with variable degree of fibrosis. Our results suggest that Wnt signaling is significantly altered (P &lt; 0.05) already in normal-looking parenchyma. The expression of Wnt3a and ICAT decreased (both P &lt; 0.01) in IPF compared to healthy lungs, whereas β-catenin, Wnt5a/b, DAAM1 and NLK increased (P &lt; 0.05 for all). ICAT is further decreased in dense fibrosis compared to normal-looking parenchyma in IPF (P &lt; 0.001). On the basis of our results, we conclude that from a Wnt perspective, there is no normal parenchyma in IPF, and Wnt signaling corresponds to degree of fibrosis. In addition, β-catenin and Wnt5a appears coupled, and decreased inhibition of β-catenin may be involved. We suggest that the interaction between β-catenin, ICAT, and Wnt5a/b may represent an important research area and potential target for therapeutic intervention.</p>}},
  author       = {{Rydell-Törmänen, Kristina and Zhou, Xiao-Hong and Hallgren, Oskar and Einarsson, Jonas and Eriksson, Leif and Andersson-Sjöland, Annika and Westergren-Thorsson, Gunilla}},
  issn         = {{2051-817X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Physiological Reports}},
  title        = {{Aberrant nonfibrotic parenchyma in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is correlated with decreased β-catenin inhibition and increased Wnt5a/b interaction}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.14814/phy2.12727}},
  doi          = {{10.14814/phy2.12727}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}