A role for tissue transglutaminase in hepatic injury and fibrogenesis, and its regulation by NF-kappaB. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • This study was undertaken to delineate a possible role for tissue transglutaminase (tTG), an enzyme that catalyzes protein cross-linking, in hepatic fibrogenesis. Rats were treated with CCl4 solution and then killed at different stages of liver injury and fibrogenesis. Liver tTG mRNA levels were markedly increased as early as 6 h after the first injection, peaked at 4 days and 1 wk, and remained increased for 8 wk. The enzymatic activity of tTG was increased in livers of rats treated with CCl4, in a fashion that paralleled the Northern blot results. Cell isolation experiments indicated that all hepatic cell types synthesize tTG mRNA. Increased binding to the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) motif of the tTG promoter was found in the nuclear extracts prepared from CCl4-treated samples. These data demonstrate an increase in tTG gene expression during hepatic injury and fibrosis, suggesting a possible role for this enzyme in stabilizing the fibrotic bands during hepatic fibrogenesis. Moreover, increased NF-kappaB binding to the tTG promoter may represent one of the mechanisms by which cell injury induces tTG transcription and thus potentiates the process of fibrogenesis.

published proceedings

  • Am J Physiol

author list (cited authors)

  • Mirza, A., Liu, S. L., Frizell, E., Zhu, J., Maddukuri, S., Martinez, J., ... Zern, M. A.

citation count

  • 151

complete list of authors

  • Mirza, A||Liu, SL||Frizell, E||Zhu, J||Maddukuri, S||Martinez, J||Davies, P||Schwarting, R||Norton, P||Zern, MA

publication date

  • February 1997