Department of Biotechnology
inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine)

Secretion of leukotrienes by senescent lung fibroblasts promotes pulmonary fibrosis.

Publication Type

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Date of Publication

December 19, 2019

Journal

JCI insight

Volume/Issue

4/24

ISSN

2379-3708

Accumulation of senescent cells is associated with the progression of pulmonary fibrosis, but mechanisms accounting for this linkage are not well understood. To explore this issue, we investigated whether a class of biologically active profibrotic lipids, the leukotrienes (LT), is part of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. The analysis of conditioned medium (CM), lipid extracts, and gene expression of LT biosynthesis enzymes revealed that senescent cells secreted LT, regardless of the origin of the cells or the modality of senescence induction. The synthesis of LT was biphasic and followed by antifibrotic prostaglandin (PG) secretion. The LT-rich CM of senescent lung fibroblasts (IMR-90) induced profibrotic signaling in naive fibroblasts, which were abrogated by inhibitors of ALOX5, the principal enzyme in LT biosynthesis. The bleomycin-induced expression of genes encoding LT and PG synthases, level of cysteinyl LT in the bronchoalveolar lavage, and overall fibrosis were reduced upon senescent cell removal either in a genetic mouse model or after senolytic treatment. Quantification of ALOX5+ cells in lung explants obtained from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients indicated that half of these cells were also senescent (p16Ink4a+). Unlike human fibroblasts from unused donor lungs made senescent by irradiation, senescent IPF fibroblasts secreted LTs but failed to synthesize PGs. This study demonstrates for the first time to our knowledge that senescent cells secrete functional LTs, significantly contributing to the LT pool known to cause or exacerbate IPF.

Alternate Journal

JCI Insight

PubMed ID

31687975

PubMed Central ID

PMC6975274

Authors

Christopher D Wiley
Alexis N Brumwell
Sonnet S Davis
Julia R Jackson
Alexis Valdovinos
Cheresa Calhoun
Fatouma Alimirah
Carlos A Castellanos
Richard Ruan
Ying Wei
Harold A Chapman
Arvind Ramanathan
Judith Campisi
Claude Jourdan Le Saux

Keywords

Cellular Senescence
Culture Media, Conditioned
Cell Line
Disease Progression
Fibroblasts
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Leukotrienes
Animals
Gene Expression Regulation
Lipoxygenase Inhibitors
Signal Transduction
Gene Expression Profiling
Prostaglandins
Lung
Mice
Primary Cell Culture
Male
Arachidonate 5-Lipoxygenase
Humans
Bleomycin
Disease Models, Animal
Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid