Abstract
Nitrative stress is considered as an important pathological process of hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury but its regulating mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a plasma membrane scaffolding protein, could be an important cellular signaling against hepatic I/R injury through inhibiting peroxynitrite (ONOO−)-induced cellular damage. Male wild-type mice and Cav-1 knockout (Cav-1−/−) were subjected to 1 h hepatic ischemia following 1, 6 and 12 h of reperfusion by clipping and releasing portal vessels respectively. Immortalized human hepatocyte cell line (L02) was subjected to 1 h hypoxia and 6 h reoxygenation and treated with Cav-1 scaffolding domain peptide. The major discoveries included: (1) the expression of Cav-1 in serum and liver tissues of wild-type mice was time-dependently elevated during hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury. (2) Cav-1 scaffolding domain peptide treatment inhibited cleaved caspase-3 expression in the hypoxia-reoxygenated L02 cells; (3) Cav-1 knockout (Cav-1−/−) mice had significantly higher levels of serum transaminases (ALT&AST) and TNF-α, and higher rates of apoptotic cell death in liver tissues than wild-type mice after subjected to 1 h hepatic ischemia and 6 hour reperfusion; (4) Cav-1−/− mice revealed higher expression levels of iNOS, ONOO− and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) in the liver than wild-type mice, and Fe-TMPyP, a representative peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst (PDC), remarkably reduced level of ONOO− and 3-NT and ameliorated the serum ALT, AST and TNF-α levels in both wild-type and Cav-1−/− mice. Taken together, we conclude that Cav-1 could play a critical role in preventing nitrative stress-induced liver damage during hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury.
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