Oral Administration of Recombinant Adeno-associated Virus-mediated Bone Morphogenetic Protein-7 Suppresses CCl4-induced Hepatic Fibrosis in Mice

• Published in: Molecular therapy Vol. 20; no. 11; pp. 2043 - 2051
• Main Authors: Hao, Zhi-Ming, Cai, Min, Lv, Yi-Fei, Huang, Yan-Hua, Li, Hong-Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Milwaukee Elsevier Inc 01.11.2012; Elsevier Limited; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Cytokines; Gastroenterology; Growth factors; Liver cirrhosis; Liver diseases; Oral administration; Original; Proteins; Signal transduction; China
• ISSN: 1525-0016; 1525-0024
• DOI: 10.1038/mt.2012.148

Fibrogenesis and hepatocyte degeneration are the main pathological processes in chronic liver diseases. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is the key profibrotic cytokine in hepatic fibrosis. Bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) is a potent antagonist of TGF-β1 and an antifibrotic factor. In this study, we generated a recombinant adeno-associated virus carrying BMP-7 (AAV–BMP-7) and tested its ability to suppress carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatic fibrosis when orally administered to mice. Our results show that the ectopic expression of BMP-7 in gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa due to the AAV–BMP-7 administration led to the long-term elevation of serum BMP-7 concentrations and resulted in the drastic amelioration of CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis in BALB/c mice. Immunostaining for α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and desmin demonstrated that AAV–BMP-7 inhibited the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in the fibrotic mouse liver. Moreover, the ectopic expression of BMP-7 promoted hepatocyte proliferation, as confirmed by an increase in the amount of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive hepatocytes in the mice that received AAV–BMP-7. Our results clearly indicate that BMP-7 is capable of inhibiting hepatic fibrosis and promoting hepatocyte regeneration. We suggest that oral AAV–BMP-7 could be developed into a safe, simple, and effective therapy for hepatic fibrosis.