In face of the everlasting battle toward COVID-19 and the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2, no specific and effective drugs for treating this disease have been reported until today. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a receptor of SARS-CoV-2, mediates the virus infection by binding to spike protein. Although ACE2 is expressed in the lung, kidney, and intestine, its expressing levels are rather low, especially in the lung. Considering the great infectivity of COVID-19, we speculate that SARS-CoV-2 may depend on other routes to facilitate its infection. Here, we first discover an interaction between host cell receptor CD147 and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The loss of CD147 or blocking CD147 in Vero E6 and BEAS-2B cell lines by anti-CD147 antibody, Meplazumab, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 amplification. Expression of human CD147 allows virus entry into non-susceptible BHK-21 cells, which can be neutralized by CD147 extracellular fragment. Viral loads are detectable in the lungs of human CD147 (hCD147) mice infected with SARS-CoV-2, but not in those of virus-infected wild type mice. Interestingly, virions are observed in lymphocytes of lung tissue from a COVID-19 patient. Human T cells with a property of ACE2 natural deficiency can be infected with SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus in a dose-dependent manner, which is specifically inhibited by Meplazumab. Furthermore, CD147 mediates virus entering host cells by endocytosis. Together, our study reveals a novel virus entry route, CD147-spike protein, which provides an important target for developing specific and effective drug against COVID-19.

OBJECTIVEIncreased activity of the innate immune system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of the dyslipidemia and insulin resistance associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. In this study, we addressed the potential role of Kupffer cells (liver-specific macrophages, KCs) in these metabolic abnormalities.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSRats were depleted of KCs by administration of gadolinium chloride, after which all animals were exposed to a 2-week high-fat or high-sucrose diet. Subsequently, the effects of these interventions on the development of hepatic insulin resistance and steatosis were assessed. In further studies, the effects of M1-polarized KCs on hepatocyte lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity were addressed.RESULTSAs expected, a high-fat or high-sucrose diet induced steatosis and hepatic insulin resistance. However, these metabolic abnormalities were prevented when liver was depleted of KCs. In vitro, KCs recapitulated the in vivo effects of diet by increasing hepatocyte triglyceride accumulation and fatty acid esterification, and decreasing fatty acid oxidation and insulin responsiveness. To address the mechanisms(s) of KC action, we inhibited a panel of cytokines using neutralizing antibodies. Only neutralizing antibodies against tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) attenuated KC-induced alterations in hepatocyte fatty acid oxidation, triglyceride accumulation, and insulin responsiveness. Importantly, KC TNFα levels were increased by diet in vivo and in isolated M1-polarized KCs in vitro.CONCLUSIONSThese data demonstrate a role for liver macrophages in diet-induced alterations in hepatic lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, and suggest a role for these cells in the etiology of the metabolic abnormalities of obesity/type 2 diabetes.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women for which the metastatic process is still poorly understood. CD147 is upregulated in breast cancer and has been associated with tumor progression, but little is known about its regulatory mechanisms. In this study, we demonstrated that CD147 was overexpressed in breast cancer tissues and cell lines, and the high expression correlated with tumor invasion and metastasis. We also found that the transcription factors Sp1 and c-Myc could bind to the CD147 promoter and enhance its expression. The CD147 mRNA has a 748-bp 3 0 -untranslated region (UTR) with many miRNA target sites, suggesting possible regulation by miRNAs. We discovered that miR-22 repressed CD147 expression by directly targeting the CD147 3 0 UTR. We also determined that miR-22 could indirectly participate in CD147 modulation by downregulating Sp1 expression. miR-22 could form an autoregulatory loop with Sp1, which repressed miR-22 transcription by binding to the miR-22 promoter. Together with the c-Myc-mediated inhibition of miR-22 expression, our investigation identified a miR-22/Sp1/c-Myc network that regulates CD147 gene transcription. In addition, miR-22 overexpression suppressed breast cancer cell invasion, metastasis, and proliferation by targeting CD147 in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we found that miR-22 was significantly downregulated in breast cancer tissues and that its expression was inversely correlated with the tumor-node-metastasis stage and lymphatic metastasis in patients. Our study provides the first evidence that an miR-22/Sp1/c-Myc network regulates CD147 upregulation in breast cancer and that miR-22 represses breast cancer invasive and metastatic capacities. Cancer Res; 74(14); 3764-78. Ó2014 AACR.

Tumor cells can move as individual cells in two interconvertible modes: mesenchymal mode and amoeboid mode. Cytoskeleton rearrangement plays an important role in the interconversion. Previously, we reported that HAb18G/CD147 and annexin II are interacting proteins involved in cytoskeleton rearrangement, yet the role of their interaction is unclear. In this study we found that the depletion of HAb18G/CD147 produced a rounded morphology, which is associated with amoeboid movement, whereas the depletion of annexin II resulted in an elongated morphology, which is associated with mesenchymal movement. The extracellular portion of HAb18G/CD147 can interact with a phosphorylation-inactive mutant of annexin II and inhibit its phosphorylation. HAb18G/CD147 inhibits Rho signaling pathways and amoeboid movement by inhibiting annexin II phosphorylation, promotes membrane localization of WAVE2 and Rac1 activation by way of the integrin-FAK-PI3K/PIP3 signaling pathway, and promotes the formation of lamellipodia and mesenchymal movement. Conclusion: These results suggest that the interaction of HAb18G/CD147 with annexin II is involved in the interconversion between mesenchymal and amoeboid movement of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Degradation of the basement membrane by MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases) is one of the most critical steps in tumour progression. CD147 is a tumour-associated antigen that plays a key regulatory role for MMP activities. In the present study, mass spectrum analysis demonstrated that the purified native CD147 from human lung cancer tissue was N-glycosylated and contained a series of high-mannose and complex-type N-linked glycan structures. Moreover, native glycosylated CD147 existed exclusively as oligomers in solution and directly stimulated MMP production more efficiently than non-glycosylated prokaryotic CD147. The glycosylation site mutation results indicated that, among three N-glycan attachment sites, the N152Q mutants were retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and unfolded protein response signalling was activated. This improper intracellular accumulation impaired its MMP-inducing activity. Increased β1,6-branching of N-glycans as a result of overexpression of GnT-V (N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V) plays an important role in tumour metastasis. In the present study, we identified CD147 as a target protein of GnT-V and found that overexpression of GnT-V resulted in an elevated level of CD147 at the plasma membrane and in cell-conditioned medium, thereby increasing the induction of MMPs. The present study reveals the important role of N-glycosylation of CD147 in its biological function and implied that targeting aberrant β1,6-branching of N-glycans on CD147 would be valuable for the development of novel therapeutic modalities against carcinoma.

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein ␤ (C/EBP␤) plays a key role in initiation of adipogenesis in adipose tissue and gluconeogenesis in liver; however, the role of C/EBP␤ in hepatic lipogenesis remains undefined. Here we show that C/EBP␤ inactivation in Lepr db/db mice attenuates obesity, fatty liver, and diabetes. In addition to impaired adipogenesis, livers from C/EBP␤ ؊/؊ x Lepr db/db mice had dramatically decreased triglyceride content and reduced lipogenic enzyme activity. C/EBP␤ deletion in Lepr db/db mice down-regulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ␥2 (PPAR␥2) and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 and up-regulated PPAR␣ independent of SREBP1c. Conversely, C/EBP␤ overexpression in wild-type mice increased PPAR␥2 and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 mRNA and hepatic triglyceride content. In FAO cells, overexpression of the liver inhibiting form of C/EBP␤ or C/EBP␤ RNA interference attenuated palmitate-induced triglyceride accumulation and reduced PPAR␥2 and triglyceride levels in the liver in vivo. Leptin and the anti-diabetic drug metformin acutely down-regulated C/EBP␤ expression in hepatocytes, whereas fatty acids up-regulate C/EBP␤ expression. These data provide novel evidence linking C/EBP␤ expression to lipogenesis and energy balance with important implications for the treatment of obesity and fatty liver disease.Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in Western societies. Today in the United States, more than 60% of people are either overweight (body mass index (BMI) Ͼ 25) or obese (BMI Ͼ 30) (1). Obesity is frequently associated with type II diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, all known risk factors for cardiovascular disease (2). Obesity is also a major risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, one of the most common emerging liver diseases in Western countries coinciding with the worldwide obesity epidemic (3, 4). The underlying transcriptional events that contribute to obesity and its associated disorders are not well understood. Some of the genes that regulate body weight have been identified as well as additional neuropeptides, hormones, and nutritional factors that play a role in body weight regulation, particularly through the ␤-adrenergic system (5, 6). Discovery of the hormone leptin and its receptors, which suppress appetite and reduce fat mass, has dramatically increased our understanding of the regulation of energy balance (7,8). More recently, the study of specific transcription factor genes and their metabolism has provided powerful new tools for understanding the integrated mechanisms underlying obesity and diabetes (9 -11). This is most elegantly illustrated using tissue-specific gene knockouts and overexpression models to elucidate the mechanism of action of the PPAR 5 family of nuclear hormone receptors (12). The CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) family includes five nuclear transcription factors, C/EBP ␣, ␤, ␥, ␦, and ⑀, encoded by separate genes located on different chromosomes (13,14). Collectively, C/EBPs are expressed across a variety of cell types, and...

Glycosylation of glycoproteins is one of many molecular changes that accompany malignant transformation. Post-translational modifications of proteins are closely associated with the adhesion, invasion, and metastasis of tumor cells. CD147, a tumor-associated antigen that is highly expressed on the cell surface of various tumors, is a potential target for cancer diagnosis and therapy. A significant biochemical property of CD147 is its high level of glycosylation. Studies on the structure and function of CD147 glycosylation provide valuable clues to the development of targeted therapies for cancer. Here, we review current understanding of the glycosylation characteristics of CD147 and the glycosyltransferases involved in the biosynthesis of CD147 N-glycans. Finally, we discuss proteins regulating CD147 glycosylation and the biological functions of CD147 glycosylation.

The transactivator protein of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), Tax, forms multiprotein complexes with the ubiquitous transcription factor CREB and the CREB/ATF-1 heterodimer. The interaction between Tax and CREB is highly specific and results in increased binding of the Tax/CREB complexes to the HTLY-I 21-bp repeats. Despite the extensive sequence similarities between CREB and ATF-1, Tax interacts with ATF-1 only marginally. Compared with CREB, Tax/CREB exhibits greatly increased DNA recognition specificity and preferentially assembles on a consensus binding site, GGGGG(T/A)TGACG(T/C)(A/C)TA(T/C)C-CCCC, homologous to the HTLV-I 21-bp repeats. Here we report that Tax affects CREB binding to the Tax-inducible DNA elements by interacting with the basic-eucine zipper (bZip) domain of CREB. We show by domain switching that the basic region in CREB bZip can confer on c-Jun and ATF-1 leucine zippers the ability to interact with Tax in vitro. Mutational analyses further demonstrate that the amino acid residues of CREB critical for Tax/CREB interaction are Ala-AlaArg at positions 282-284 (AAR"), immediate upstream of the higly conserved DNA-binding domain (R/K)XX(R/K) N(R/K)XAAXX(S/C)RX(R/K)(K/R) characteristic of all bZip proteins. Specific amino acid substitutions in AAR2" of CREB weakened or abolished Tax/CREB interaction, whereas reciprocal changes in ATF-1 allowed It to interact with Tax. These results support a model in which the specific interaction between Tax and the AAR284 residues near the DNA-binding domain of CREB results in a multiprotein complex with altered DNA recognition property. This protein complex assembles selectively on the viral Tax-responsive 21-bp repeats to augment transcription.Tax is a 40-kDa nuclear protein encoded by the 3' region of the genome of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). It stimulates HTLV-I transcription via three imperfect 21-bp repeats in the proviral long terminal repeat (1-3). cAMP response element (CRE)-like motifs in the repeats are crucial for Tax transactivation (3). We previously detected three cellular protein factors in Jurkat T cells and HeLa cells that bound specifically to the CRE in the HTLV-I 21-bp repeats. Two ofthese factors interacted with Tax directly (4,5). These three cellular factors were identified to be CREB homodimer, CREB/ATF-1 heterodimer, and ATF-1 homodimer (5). Tax interacts directly with the CREB subunits in CREB homodimer and CREB/ATF-1 heterodimer and stabilizes their binding to the HTLV-I 21-bp repeats (5). Both CREB and ATF-1 are members of the basic-leucine zipper (bZip) family of transcription factors and are highly similar in primary amino acid sequences (6-8). The interaction between Tax and CREB is highly specific. Despite the extensive amino acid similarities shared between ATF-1 and CREB, Tax interacts marginally with ATF-1 (5). By selecting for preferred Tax/CREB or CREB binding sites in vitro, the Tax/ CREB complex was found to exhibit greatly altered DNA recognition specificity compared with CREB (9). The...