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FSTL1 aggravates OVA-induced inflammatory responses by activating the NLRP3/IL-1β signaling pathway in mice and macrophages

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Abstract

Objective

Asthma, a well-known disease with high morbidity, is characterized by chronic airway inflammation. However, the allergic inflammation mechanisms of follistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL1) have not been elucidated. This study aims to investigate the effects of FSTL1 in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced mice and macrophages on nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein 3 (NLRP3)/interleukin-1β (IL-1β) signaling pathway.

Methods

Mice were randomly divided into control-WT, OVA-WT, control-Fstl1±, OVA-Fstl1±. Histological changes were assessed by HE and PAS staining. The protein levels of Muc-5AC, FSTL1, NLRP3, and IL-1β in lung tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in mice and human serum samples were detected by ELISA. Then, mice were grouped into control, FSTL1, MCC950 + FSTL1 to further investigate the relationship between FSTL1 and NLRP3/IL-1β. Alveolar macrophage cells (MH-S cells) were separated into control, OVA, FSTL1, OVA + FSTL1, OVA + siNC, OVA + siFSTL1, MCC950, and FSTL1 + MCC950 groups to explore the effect of FSTL1 on the NLRP3/IL-1β signaling. The protein expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β in MH-S cells was detected by Western blot analysis.

Results

The present results uncovered that Fstl1± significantly ameliorated OVA-induced Muc-5AC production and mucus hypersecretion. Fstl1± was also found to decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory cell infiltration in OVA-induced asthmatic mice. Meanwhile, the serum concentrations of FSTL1 and IL-1β were higher in  asthma subjects than the health subjects, and Fstl1± ameliorated the production of NLRP3 and IL-1β in OVA-induced asthmatic mice. Furthermore, mice by injected FSTL1 substantially stimulated the expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β, while pretreatment with MCC950 in mice significantly weakened the production of NLRP3 and IL-1β induced by injection FSTL1. Pretreatment with siFSTL1 or MCC950 significantly reduced the production of NLRP3 and IL-1β induced by OVA or FSTL1 in MH-S cells.

Conclusions

The study results showed that FSTL1 played an important role in allergic airway inflammation by activating NLRP3/IL-1β. Hence, inhibition FSTL1 could be applied as a therapeutic agent against asthma.

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Availability of data and materials

The data generated during the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Xiang Gao and Wen Ning for their generous help in Fstl1+/- mice.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81770029), National Key Research and Development Project (2017YFC1310601).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yan Wang and Dong Zhang contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Qilu Hospital (Qingdao), Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Yan Wang

  2. Department of Respiratory, Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China

    Dong Zhang, Jia-wei Xu & Jin-tao Zhang

  3. Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Tian Liu, Jun-fei Wang, Jin-xiang Wu & Ji-ping Zhao

  4. Department of Respiratory, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Jinan, China

    Liang Dong

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  1. Yan Wang
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Correspondence to Liang Dong.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee for Human Studies at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Shandong University (Grant NO. KYLL-2017[ks]-112).

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Wang, Y., Zhang, D., Liu, T. et al. FSTL1 aggravates OVA-induced inflammatory responses by activating the NLRP3/IL-1β signaling pathway in mice and macrophages. Inflamm. Res. 70, 777–787 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-021-01475-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-021-01475-w

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