m 6 A methylation is required for dihydroartemisinin to alleviate liver fibrosis by inducing ferroptosis in hepatic stellate cells

Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is a central event in the development of liver fibrosis, and the elimination of activated HSCs is considered to be an effective anti-fibrotic strategy. Here, we report that dihydroartemisinin (DHA) prevented the activation of HSCs via ferroptosis pathway....

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Published inFree radical biology & medicine Vol. 182; p. 246
Main Authors Shen, Min, Guo, Mei, Li, Yujia, Wang, Yingqian, Qiu, Yangling, Shao, Jiangjuan, Zhang, Feng, Xu, Xuefen, Yin, Guoping, Wang, Shijun, Chen, Anping, Zhang, Zili, Zheng, Shizhong
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.03.2022
Subjects
Animals
Artemisinins
Autophagy
Ferroptosis - genetics
Hepatic Stellate Cells
Liver - metabolism
Liver Cirrhosis - chemically induced
Liver Cirrhosis - drug therapy
Liver Cirrhosis - genetics
Methylation
Mice
Signal Transduction
Dihydroartemisinin
mA modification
Ferroptosis
Hepatic stellate cell
Liver fibrosis
Autophagy
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Summary:Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is a central event in the development of liver fibrosis, and the elimination of activated HSCs is considered to be an effective anti-fibrotic strategy. Here, we report that dihydroartemisinin (DHA) prevented the activation of HSCs via ferroptosis pathway. Importantly, DHA treatment increased the level of autophagy in HSCs. The inhibition of autophagy by 3-MA dramatically abolished the DHA-induced ferroptosis in HSCs. Mechanistically, the up-regulated m A modification is essential for the activation of autophagy by DHA through the reduction of fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO). Down-regulation of m A modification by FTO overexpression could impair autophagy and the classical ferroptotic events. Interestingly, the m A modification of BECN1 mRNA was evidently up-regulated compared with other autophagy-related genes. More importantly, YTHDF1 was identified as a key m A reader protein for BECN1 mRNA stability, and knockdown of YTHDF1 could prevent DHA-induced HSC ferroptosis. Noteworthy, YTH domain was essential for YTHDF1 to prolong the half-life of BECN1 mRNA in DHA-induced HSC ferroptosis. In mice, DHA treatment alleviated liver fibrosis by triggering HSC ferroptosis. HSC-specific inhibition of m A modification and autophagy could impair DHA-induced HSC ferroptosis in murine liver fibrosis. Overall, these results provided novel implications to reveal the molecular mechanism of DHA-induced ferroptosis, by which pointed to m A modification-dependent ferroptosis as a potential target for the treatment of liver fibrosis.
ISSN:1873-4596