Silencing of tissue factor by antisense deoxyoligonucleotide mitigates thioacetamide-induced liver injury.

BACKGROUND: Retinoid receptors (RRs), RAR-α and RXR-α, work as transcription factors that regulate cell growth, differentiation, survival, and death. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) store retinoid and release its RRs as lipid droplets upon their activation. PURPOSE: We test the hypothesis that loss of retinoid receptors RAR-α and RXR-α from HSCs is dependent on tissue factor (TF) during thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver injury. METHODS: Liver toxicity markers, TF, fibrin, cleaved caspase-3, and cyclin D1 as well as histopathology were investigated. RESULTS: Increased TF, fibrin, cleaved caspase-3, and cyclin D1 protein expression is seen in zone of central vein after TAA injection compared with vehicle-treated mice. A strong downregulation of RAR-α and RXR-α is seen in TAA-induced liver injury. In addition, histopathological obliteration and pericentral expression of cleaved caspase 3 and cyclin D1 are observed after TAA injection compared with the normal vehicle-treated mice. No changes have been seen in TAA/TF-sense (SC) in whole parameters compared with TAA-treated animals. TAA/TF-antisense (AS)-treated mice show normal expression of all parameters and normal histopathological features when compared with the control mice. In conclusion, this study declares that the strong downregulation of RAR-α and RXR-α may cause liver injury and particularly activation of HSCs in TAA-induced toxicity. TF-AS treatment not only downregulates TF protein expression but also alleviates loss of liver RAR-α and RXR-α and suppresses the activated apoptosis signals in TAA-induced liver toxicity. Finally, TF and RAR-α/RXR-α are important regulatory molecules in TAA induced acute liver injury.

Carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury in mice is tissue factor dependent.

Tissue factor (TF) is a membranous glycoprotein that activates the coagulation system when blood vessels or tissues are damaged. TF was up-regulated in monocrotaline (MCT)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) hepatotoxicity model. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that TF-dependent fibrin deposition occurs in liver toxicity induced by CCl4 in mice. Pericentral deposition of TF and fibrin is induced after CCl4-induced liver toxicity. The toxicity was evaluated by determination of serum activities of ALT, AST and ALP as well as GSH content and histopathological changes. The results showed that injection of mice with TF-antisense deoxyoligonucleotide (TF-AS) prevented the accumulation of TF and fibrin in the hepatic tissues. Furthermore, it significantly restored blood biochemical parameters, GSH content and distorted histopathological features caused by CCl4. The current study demonstrates that TF activation is associated with CCl4-induced liver injury. Furthermore, administration of TF-AS successfully prevented this type of liver injury.

CD24 is a marker of exosomes secreted into urine and amniotic fluid.

Exosomes are small membrane vesicles that are secreted from a variety of cell types into various body fluids including the blood and urine. These vesicles are thought to play a role in cell-cell interactions. CD24 is a small but extensively glycosylated protein linked to the cell surface by means of a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor. In this study we found that CD24 is present in membrane vesicles characterized as exosomes that were isolated from the urine of normal individuals. CD24 was expressed by both tubule cells and podocytes and treatment of the latter with a cholesterol-extracting agent, but not with a calcium ionophore, caused the release of CD24-containing exosomes. Using CD24 as a marker, we found exosomes in the urine of newborn infants and in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women with similar findings made in mice. Interestingly, studies with CD24 knockout mice showed that the exosomes are released from the fetus but not from the mother; however, exosome release was similar from both the knockout and the wild-type mice. This indicates that CD24 is not essential for exosome formation or release but may be a convenient exosome marker. Our studies suggest that exosomal secretion from the embryonic kidney could play a biological role at the fetal-maternal interphase.