Open AccessInhibition of Glutaminase 1 Attenuates Experimental Pulmonary Fibrosis
Author(s) -
Huachun Cui,
Na Xie,
Dechun Jiang,
Sami Banerjee,
Jing Ge,
Yan Y. Sanders,
Gang Liu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.469
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1535-4989
pISSN - 1044-1549
DOI - 10.1165/rcmb.2019-0051oc
Subject(s) - bleomycin , pulmonary fibrosis , fibroblast , myofibroblast , glutaminolysis , cancer research , idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis , fibrosis , glutaminase , lung , medicine , pathology , biology , cancer , glutamine , in vitro , chemotherapy , cancer cell , biochemistry , amino acid
It has been increasingly recognized lately that aberrant cellular metabolism plays an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. In our previous systemic studies, we found that human lung myofibroblasts undergo glutaminolytic reprogramming, which is mediated by an increased expression of glutaminase (Gls) 1. We showed that augmented glutaminolysis critically regulates collagen production by promoting its stabilization in human lung myofibroblasts. Our study indicates that lung fibroblast Gls1 is a promising therapeutic target for this disease. In this investigation, we primarily focused on delineating the in vivo role of fibroblast Gls1 in mouse models of pulmonary fibrosis and determining the efficacy of Gls1 inhibition in treating this pathology. We now show that fibroblast Gls1 is upregulated in fibrotic mouse lungs. We present evidence that mice with ablation of fibroblast Gls1 are protected from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. We show that the Gls1 inhibitor, CB-839, is therapeutically efficacious in treating both bleomycin- and transforming growth factor-β1-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Our study has thus established a solid rationale for advancing Gls1 inhibitors, particularly CB-839, to the next stage of testing in the treatment of this disease.