Objective To explore the regulatory effect of recombinant signal-binding protein Jκ(RBP-J)on pathological T helper 17(pTh17)cells and the role of the RBP-J/pTh17 axis in the progression of liver fibrosis.Methods Liver tissues and pe-ripheral blood samples from five normal individuals(donors)and five patients with liver fibrosis(recipients)were collected.Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction,immunohistochemistry,and Western blot were applied to measure the ex-pression levels of RBP-J and interleukin 23 receptor(IL-23R)in the liver tissues;flow cytometry was used to determine the fre-quency of pTh17 cells in peripheral blood samples.Results In the liver tissues of patients with liver fibrosis,the protein expres-sion of RBP-J and IL-23R and the gene expression level of IL-23R were significantly increased in comparison with that of healthy controls(t=5.70-83.34,P＜0.05).In the peripheral blood of patients with liver fibrosis,pTh17 cell frequency was also signifi-cantly increased compared with that of healthy controls(t=18.88,P＜0.01).Conclusion In liver injury,RBP-J may promote pTh17 cell differentiation by driving IL-23R expression and thus promote the progression of liver fibrosis,suggesting that the RBP-J/pTh17 axis may be a potential target for the treatment of liver fibrosis.
关键词
免疫球蛋白J重组信号序列结合蛋白质/Th17细胞/肝纤维化
Key words
[Kev words]immunoglobulin J recombination signal sequence-binding protein/Th17 cells/hepatic fibrosis
维普
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