Inhibition of EZH2 Prevents Fibrosis and Restores Normal Angiogenesis in Scleroderma
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Inhibition of EZH2 prevents fibrosis and restores normal angiogenesis in scleroderma Pei-Suen Tsoua, Phillip Campbella, M. Asif Amina, Patrick Coita, Shaylynn Millera, David A. Foxa, Dinesh Khannaa,b, and Amr H. Sawalhaa,c,1 aDivision of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; bScleroderma Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; and cCenter for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited by Lawrence Steinman, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, and approved December 20, 2018 (received for review July 30, 2018) Scleroderma (SSc) is a complex disease that involves activation of EGFR and PDGFR pathways through up-regulation of PTEN the immune system, vascular complications, and tissue fibrosis. The (8, 16). In addition, miR-132, MeCP2, and EZH2 operate in histone methyltransferase enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) regulatory epigenetic relay pathways that result in transcriptional mediates trimethylation of lysine 27 of histone 3 (H3K27me3), which repression of PPARγ, ultimately leading to stimulation of myofi- acts as a repressive epigenetic mark. Both EZH2 and H3K27me3 were broblast transdifferentiation (17, 19). elevated in SSc dermal fibroblasts and endothelial cells compared In this study, we focused on the involvement of EZH2 in SSc with healthy controls. EZH2 inhibitor DZNep halted fibrosis both in angiogenesis and fibrosis, utilizing dermal ECs and fibroblasts vitro and in vivo. In SSc fibroblasts, DZNep dose-dependently reduced isolated from healthy controls and SSc patients. We first estab- the expression of profibrotic genes and inhibited migratory activity lished the expression profile of EZH2 in both cell types in SSc, of SSc fibroblasts. We show that epigenetic dysregulation and over- then assessed its functional roles in SSc ECs and fibroblasts, as expression of LRRC16A explains EZH2-mediated fibroblast migration well as in vivo in an animal model. Through DNA methylation in SSc. In endothelial cells, inhibition of EZH2 restored normal angio- profiling and literature mining, we were able to identify key genesis in SSc via activating the Notch pathway, specifically by up- regulating the Notch ligand DLL4. Our results demonstrate that genes involved in mediating the fibroblast migratory and anti- overexpression of EZH2 in SSc fibroblasts and endothelial cells is angiogenic effects of EZH2 in SSc, then validate their roles with profibrotic and antiangiogenic. Targeting EZH2 or EZH2-regulated functional assays. MEDICAL SCIENCES genes might be of therapeutic potential in SSc. Materials and Methods Patients. All patients were recruited from the University of Michigan Scleroderma | epigenetics | EZH2 | angiogenesis | fibrosis Scleroderma Program and met the American College of Rheumatology/ European League Against Rheumatism criteria for the classification of SSc (20). ystemic sclerosis (Scleroderma, SSc) is a systemic disease The demographics and clinical characteristics of enrolled patients are sum- Scomprised of blood vascular dysfunction, autoimmunity, and marized in SI Appendix, Table S1. Two 4-mm punch biopsies from the distal excessive fibroblast activation that ultimately results in tissue forearm of healthy volunteers and diffuse or limited cutaneous SSc patients damage and organ failure. The underlying cause of SSc appears were obtained for fibroblast and EC isolation. All subjects included in this to be multifactorial as various cell types and pathways have been study signed a written informed consent. All procedures in this study were implicated. Recent studies have provided strong support for the reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in SSc pathogenesis (1–5). of Michigan. Alterations of histone marks, DNA methylation, and noncoding RNAs were observed in immune cells, endothelial cells (ECs), and Cell Culture. Dermal fibroblasts and ECs were isolated as described (3, 21–23). fibroblasts isolated from patients with SSc, pointing to the im- After digestion, ECs were magnetically labeled with anti-CD31 antibodies portance of examining epigenetic regulation in this disease (6). (CD31 MicroBead Kit) and added to LS Columns (Miltenyi Biotech) at- The impact of a histone methyltransferase, the enhancer of tached to MidiMACS Separator. Negatively selected cells, which were fi- broblasts, were cultured in RPMI 1640 with 10% FBS and antibiotics. The zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), in SSc pathogenesis was examined in this study. This enzyme is involved in T cell differentiation, EC- mediated angiogenesis, as well as myofibroblast transformation Significance and tissue fibrosis—essentially all three aspects of SSc patho- genesis (7–9). EZH2 induces histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation The key epigenetic regulator EZH2 plays a central role in fibrosis (H3K27me3) and is the catalytic component of the highly con- and abnormal angiogenesis in scleroderma. EZH2-target genes served polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2) that represses mediating profibrotic and antiangiogenic effects in scleroderma transcription. However, in certain circumstances, EZH2 activates patients have been identified and characterized. Inhibiting transcription, which is PRC2-independent (10). EZH2 is involved EZH2 by repurposing already-existing EZH2 inhibitors currently in the regulation of EC function, particularly by affecting genes being trialed in cancer might provide a therapeutic approach to associated with cell adhesion (7, 11). In the tumor microenviron- scleroderma. ment, EZH2 is regulated by hypoxia, where EZH2 appears to in- – Author contributions: P.-S.T. and A.H.S. designed research; P.-S.T., P.C., M.A.A., P.C., and duce angiogenesis (12 14). In contrast, other studies showed that S.M. performed research; D.A.F. and D.K. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; P.-S.T., EZH2 silencing or EZH2 inhibitors enhanced migration and an- P.C., M.A.A., P.C., and S.M. analyzed data; A.H.S. conceived the study; and P.-S.T. and giogenesis of ECs (15). In addition, EZH2 inhibitor DZNep in- A.H.S. wrote the paper. creased angiogenesis in ischemic muscles, the circulating levels The authors declare no conflict of interest. of proangiogenic cells, and blood flow recovery in mice (15). EZH2 This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. appears to promote fibrosis. Its expression is increased in patients This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic kidney disease (8, NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND). 16), as well as in animal models including bleomycin-induced lung 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]. fibrosis, carbon tetrachloride liver fibrosis, and unilateral ureteral This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. obstruction kidney fibrosis (8, 16–18). Inhibition of EZH2 reduces 1073/pnas.1813006116/-/DCSupplemental. TGFβ-Smad signaling pathways and suppresses activation of the Published online February 12, 2019. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1813006116 PNAS | February 26, 2019 | vol. 116 | no. 9 | 3695–3702 Downloaded by guest on September 25, 2021 + positively selected CD31 ECs were grown in EBM-2 media with growth factors Bleomycin Skin Fibrosis Model. A bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis model was (Lonza). Cells between passages 3 and 6 were used in the experiments. used similar to what was described (26, 27). Fifteen-week-old C57BL/6 mice (Jackson Laboratory) were preconditioned on supplemental DietGel 76A mRNA Extraction and qRT-PCR. Total RNA was isolated using Direct-zol RNA (ClearH2O) for 2 wk before starting the experiment. Skin fibrosis was in- MiniPrep Kit (Zymo Research), followed by preparation of cDNA using the duced by intracutaneous injection of 100 μL of bleomycin (0.5 mg/mL) in PBS, 2 Verso cDNA synthesis kit (Thermo Scientific). Primers along with Power SYBR every day for 2 wk in a defined area (∼1cm) on the upper back. In- μ Green PCR master mix (Applied Biosystems) were used for qPCR run by the tracutaneous injection of 100 L of PBS was used as control. One group of ViiA 7 Real-Time PCR System. Primer sequences are as follows: VEGF FW: mice received injections of PBS, and the other two were challenged with ATGAACTTTCTGCTGTCTTGGGT; RV: TGGCCTTGGTGAGGTTTGATCC; TGFB1 FW: bleomycin. Daily oral administration of DZNep (2 mg/kg in 20% DMSO/50% TTGCTTCAGCTCCACAGAGA; RV: GTTGGACAACTGCTCCACCT; DNMT1 FW: CG- PEG 400/30% PBS) was initiated together with the first challenge of bleo- ACTACATCAAAGGCAGCAACCTG; RV: TGGAGTGGACTTGTGGGTGTTCTC; DNMT3A: mycin and continued for 2 wk. Vehicle control consisting of 20% DMSO/50% PEG 400/30% PBS was used. Oral gavage was performed by the Unit for FW: CGAGTCCAACCCTGTGATGATTG; RV: CGTGGTCTTTGCCCTGCTTTATG; NOTCH1 Laboratory Animal Medicine’s In-Vivo Animal Core. In a separate study, daily FW: TCCACCAGTTTGAATGGTCA; RV: AGCTCATCATCTGGGACAGG; NOTCH4 i.p. administration of GSK126 (0.5 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg in 20% DMSO/50% PEG FW: AACTCCTCCCCAGGAATCTG; RV: CCTCCATCCAGCAGAGGTT; JAG2 FW: 400/30% PBS) or vehicle control (20% DMSO/50% PEG 400/30% PBS) was GGTCGTACTTGCACTCACAATACC; RV: GTAGCAAGGCAGAGGGTTGC; NUMB FW: used in the bleomycin fibrosis model described above. Mice were killed by AGCGCAAGCAGAAGCGGGAG; RV: CGGCGTGGGA-TGGCATGAGG; FBXW7 FW: GG- CO inhalation, and the skin from the defined area was harvested at the end CGCCGCGGCTCTTTTCTA; RV: GCTGCCCACAGAGAGCAGTTCC;