Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a leading cause of cirrhosis. Recently, we showed that NASH-related cirrhosis is associated with Hedgehog (Hh) pathway activation. The gene encoding osteopontin (OPN), a profibrogenic extracellular matrix protein and cytokine, is a direct transcriptional target of the Hh pathway. Thus, we hypothesize that Hh signaling induces OPN to promote liver fibrosis in NASH. Hepatic OPN expression and liver fibrosis were analyzed in wild-type (WT) mice, Patched-deficient (Ptc 1/2 ) (overly active Hh signaling) mice, and OPNdeficient mice before and after feeding methionine and choline-deficient (MCD) diets to induce NASH-related fibrosis. Hepatic OPN was also quantified in human NASH and nondiseased livers. Hh signaling was manipulated in cultured liver cells to assess direct effects on OPN expression, and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) were cultured in medium with different OPN activities to determine effects on HSC phenotype. When fed MCD diets, Ptc 1/2 mice expressed more OPN and developed worse liver fibrosis (P < 0.05) than WT mice, whereas OPN-deficient mice exhibited reduced fibrosis (P < 0.05). In NASH patients, OPN was significantly up-regulated and correlated with Hh pathway activity and fibrosis stage. During NASH, ductular cells strongly expressed OPN. In cultured HSCs, SAG (an Hh agonist) up-regulated, whereas cyclopamine (an Hh antagonist) repressed OPN expression (P < 0.005). Cholangiocyte-derived OPN and recombinant OPN promoted fibrogenic responses in HSCs (P < 0.05); neutralizing OPN with RNA aptamers attenuated this (P < 0.05). Conclusion: OPN is Hh-regulated and directly promotes profibrogenic responses. OPN induction correlates with Hh pathway activity and fibrosis stage. Therefore, OPN inhibition may be beneficial in NASH (HEPATOLOGY 2011;53:106-115) N onalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a potentially serious form of chronic liver injury because it increases the risk of developing cirrhosis and primary liver cancer. The mechanisms that lead to these outcomes have not been fully elucidated, but they appear to involve responses triggered

Immune responses are important in dictating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) outcome. We previously reported that upregulation of hedgehog (Hh) and osteopontin (OPN) occurs in NASH, that Hh-regulated accumulation of natural killer T (NKT) cells promotes hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation, and that cirrhotic livers harbor large numbers of NKT cells. Here, we evaluated the hypothesis that activated NKT cells drive fibrogenesis during NASH by assessing if NKT depletion protects against NASH-fibrosis; identifying the NKT associated fibrogenic factors; and correlating plasma levels of the NKT cell-associated factor OPN with fibrosis severity in mice and humans. When fed methionine choline deficient (MCD) diets for 8 weeks, WT mice exhibited Hh pathway activation, enhanced OPN expression, and NASH-fibrosis. Jα18−/− and CD1d−/− mice which lack NKT cells had significantly attenuated Hh and OPN expression and dramatically less fibrosis. Liver mononuclear cells (LMNC) from MCD diet-fed WT mice contained activated NKT cells, generated Hh and OPN, and stimulated hepatic stellate cells (HSC) to become myofibroblasts (MF); neutralizing these factors abrogated the fibrogenic actions of WT LMNC. LMNC from NKT cell deficient mice were deficient in fibrogenic factors, failing to activate collagen gene expression in HSC. Human NASH livers with advanced fibrosis contained more OPN and Hh protein than those with early fibrosis. Plasma levels of OPN mirrored hepatic OPN expression, and correlated with fibrosis severity. In conclusion, hepatic NKT cells drive production of OPN and Hh ligands that promote fibrogenesis during NASH. Associated increases in plasma levels of OPN may provide a biomarker of NASH-fibrosis.

Interactions between tumor cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the tumor microenvironment (TMEN) significantly influence cancer growth and metastasis. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is known to be a critical mediator of the CAF phenotype, and osteopontin (OPN) expression in tumors is associated with more aggressive phenotypes and poor patient outcomes. The potential link between these two pathways has not been previously addressed. Utilizing in vitro studies using human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and MDA-MB231 (OPN+) and MCF7 (OPN−) human breast cancer cell lines, we demonstrate that OPN induces integrin-dependent MSC expression of TGF-β1 to mediate adoption of the CAF phenotype. This OPN-TGF-β1 pathway requires the transcription factor, myeloid zinc finger 1 (MZF1). In vivo studies with xenotransplant models in NOD-scid mice showed that OPN expression increases cancer growth and metastasis by mediating MSC-to-CAF transformation in a process that is MZF1- and TGF-β1-dependent. We conclude that tumor-derived OPN engenders MSC-to-CAF transformation in the microenvironment to promote tumor growth and metastasis via the OPN-MZF1-TGF-β1 pathway.

ObjectiveChronic fibrosing liver injury is a major risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis in humans. Mice with targeted deletion of Mdr2 (the murine ortholog of MDR3) develop chronic fibrosing liver injury. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) emerges spontaneously in such mice by 50–60 weeks of age, providing a model of fibrosis-associated hepatocarcinogenesis. We used Mdr2−/− mice to investigate the hypothesis that activation of the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway promotes development of both liver fibrosis and HCC.MethodsHepatic injury and fibrosis, Hh pathway activation, and liver progenitor populations were compared in Mdr2−/− mice and age-matched wild type controls. A dose finding experiment with the Hh signaling antagonist GDC-0449 was performed to optimize Hh pathway inhibition. Mice were then treated with GDC-0449 or vehicle for 9 days, and effects on liver fibrosis and tumor burden were assessed by immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR, Western blot, and magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsUnlike controls, Mdr2−/− mice consistently expressed Hh ligands and progressively accumulated Hh-responsive liver myofibroblasts and progenitors with age. Treatment of aged Mdr2-deficient mice with GDC-0449 significantly inhibited hepatic Hh activity, decreased liver myofibroblasts and progenitors, reduced liver fibrosis, promoted regression of intra-hepatic HCCs, and decreased the number of metastatic HCC without increasing mortality.ConclusionsHh pathway activation promotes liver fibrosis and hepatocarcinogenesis, and inhibiting Hh signaling safely reverses both processes even when fibrosis and HCC are advanced.

Introduction Adult liver regeneration requires induction and suppression of proliferative activity in multiple types of liver cells. The mechanisms that orchestrate the global changes in gene expression that are required for proliferative activity to change within individual liver cells, and that coordinate proliferative activity among different types of liver cells, are not well understood. Morphogenic signaling pathways that are active during fetal development, including Hedgehog and Hippo/Yes-associated protein 1 (Yap1), regulate liver regeneration in adulthood. Cirrhosis and liver cancer result when these pathways become dysregulated but relatively little is known about the mechanisms that coordinate and control morphogenic signaling during effective liver regeneration. Methods We evaluated the hypothesis that the Hedgehog pathway controls Yap1 activation during liver regeneration by studying intact mice and cultured liver cells. Results In cultured hepatic stellate cells (HSC), disrupting Hedgehog signaling blocked activation of Yap1, and knocking down Yap1 inhibited induction of both Yap1 and Hedgehog-regulated genes that enable HSC to become myofibroblasts (MF). In mice, disrupting Hedgehog signaling in MF inhibited liver regeneration after PH. Reduced proliferative activity in the liver epithelial compartment resulted from loss of stroma-derived paracrine signals that activate Yap1 and the Hedgehog pathway in hepatocytes. This prevented hepatocytes from up-regulating Yap1- and Hedgehog-regulated transcription factors that normally promote their proliferation. Conclusion Morphogenic signaling in HSC is necessary to reprogram hepatocytes to regenerate the liver epithelial compartment after partial hepatectomy. This discovery identifies novel molecules that might be targeted to correct defective repair during cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Objective Vascular remodeling during liver damage involves loss of healthy liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) phenotype via capillarisation. Hedgehog (Hh) signaling regulates vascular development and increases during liver injury. Therefore, we examined its role in capillarisation. Design Primary LSEC were cultured for 5 days to induce capillarisation. Pharmacologic, antibody-mediated, and genetic approaches were used to manipulate Hh signaling. Effects on mRNA and protein expression of Hh-regulated genes and capillarisation markers were evaluated by qRT-PCR and immunoblot. Changes in LSEC function were assessed by migration and tube forming assay, and gain/loss of fenestrae was examined by electron microscopy. Mice with acute or chronic liver injury were treated with Hh inhibitors; effects on capillarisation were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results Freshly isolated LSEC expressed Hh ligands, Hh receptors, and Hh ligand antagonist Hhip. Capillarisation was accompanied by repression of Hhip and increased expression of Hh-regulated genes. Treatment with Hh agonist further induced expression of Hh ligands and Hh-regulated genes, and up-regulated capillarisation-associated genes; whereas Hh signaling antagonist or Hh ligand neutralizing antibody each repressed expression of Hh target genes and capillarisation markers. LSEC isolated from SmoloxP/loxP transgenic mice that had been infected with adenovirus expressing Cre-recombinase to delete Smoothened showed over 75% knockdown of Smoothened. During culture, Smoothened-deficient LSEC had inhibited Hh signaling, less induction of capillarisation-associated genes, and retention of fenestrae. In mice with injured livers, inhibiting Hh signaling prevented capillarisation. Conclusions LSEC produce and respond to Hh ligands, and use Hh signaling to regulate complex phenotypic changes that occur during capillarisation.

Objective Smoothened (SMO), a co-receptor of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, promotes fibrogenic repair of chronic liver injury. We investigated the roles of SMO+ myofibroblasts (MF) in liver regeneration by conditional deletion of SMO in αSMA+ cells after partial hepatectomy (PH). Design αSMA-Cre-ERT2×SMO/flox mice were treated with vehicle (Veh) or tamoxifen (TMX), and sacrificed 24 to 96 hrs post-PH. Regenerating livers were analyzed for proliferation, progenitors, and fibrosis by qRT-PCR and quantitative-IHC. Results were normalized to liver-segments resected at PH. For lineage-tracing studies, αSMA-Cre-ERT2×ROSA-Stop-flox-YFP mice were treated with Veh or TMX; livers were stained for YFP, and hepatocytes isolated 48 and 72 hrs post-PH were analysed for YFP by FACS. Results Post-PH, Veh-αSMA-SMO mice increased expression of Hh-genes, transiently accumulated MF, fibrosis, and liver progenitors, and ultimately exhibited proliferation of hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. In contrast, TMX-αSMA-SMO mice showed loss of whole liver SMO expression, repression of Hh-genes, enhanced accumulation of quiescent HSC but reduced accumulation of MF, fibrosis, and progenitors, as well as inhibition of hepatocyte and cholangiocyte proliferation, and reduced recovery of liver weight. In TMX-αSMA-YFP mice, many progenitors, cholangiocytes, and up to 25% of hepatocytes were YFP+ by 48-72 h after PH, indicating that liver epithelial cells were derived from αSMA-YFP+cells. Conclusion Hedgehog signaling promotes transition of quiescent hepatic stellate cells to fibrogenic MF, some of which become progenitors that regenerate the liver epithelial compartment after PH. Hence, scarring is a component of successful liver regeneration.

The mechanisms mediating hepatic accumulation of inflammatory cells in cholestatic liver disease remain enigmatic. Our thesis is that Hedgehog (Hh) pathway activation promotes hepatic accumulation of immune cells that interact with cholangiocytes. We believe that myofibroblastic hepatic stellate cells (MF-HSCs) release soluble Hh ligands that stimulate cholangiocytes to express chemokines that recruit mononuclear cell types with cognate receptors for these chemokines, thereby orchestrating a repair-related mechanism for liver inflammation. To address this thesis, we used three experimental systems that allow the definition of Hh-dependent mechanisms that induce phenotypic changes in cholangiocytes.