Pathophysiological role of Atg5 in human ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Background/Aims: Ulcerative colitis (UC), along with Crohn’s disease, is one of the main types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). On the other hand, deregulated autophagy is involved in many chronic diseases, including IBD. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of Atg5 and microRNA-181a (miR-181a) in the pathophysiology of UC. Methods: Colon biopsy, stool, and blood samples of 6 men and 9 women were confirmed for UC. Also, 13 men and 17 women were selected as healthy control (HC). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry were used to measure the Atg-5 content of the colon biopsies. Besides, the serum and stool levels of Atg5 were measured using ELISA. Moreover, the total RNA of blood cells was extracted and evaluated for the expression of miR-181a.Results: We found 1.2 ng/mL versus 0.46 ng/mL, 0.34 ng/mL versus 0.24 ng/mL, and 0.082 ng/mL versus 0.062 ng/mL of Atg5 in stool, intestinal tissue, and serum of UC and HCs, respectively. There was no significant difference in the expression of miR-181a in the blood samples of UC and HCs. Immunohistochemistry showed high positivity without any significant difference between the 2 groups in the quantitative analysis.Conclusions: The significant difference observed between the stool Atg5 content of the HCs and UC patients may provide new insight into using this protein as a diagnostic biomarker, however, considering the small size of our studied population further studies are needed.

A study on the potential role of autophagy‐related protein 10 as a biomarker for ulcerative colitis

“…In addition, our group for the first time reported the association between lower serum levels of ATG7 and human UC (Lankarani et al, 2017). Also, we found a significant increased level of fecal ATG5 in UC patients (Ardali et al, 2020). So far, the importance of ATG10 in human UC has not been evaluated yet.…”

Circular RNA HECTD1 Mitigates Ulcerative Colitis by Promoting Enterocyte Autophagy Via miR-182-5p/HuR Axis

“…26 Ardali et al found that UC patients had higher contents of ATG5 in both stool and serum compared with healthy controls. 27 ATG9 abundantly exists in cytoplasmic vesicles that are assembled into the preautophagosomal structure in response to environmental stimuli and eventually incorporated into the autophagosomal outer membrane. 28 Overexpression of miR-29a inhibited the autophagy of intestinal epithelial cells in UC by decreasing the expression of ATG9A.…”

Personalized medicine in inflammatory bowel disease: Perspectives on Asia

“…A Japanese study suggested that the genetic susceptibility of TNFSF15 to CD may be partially confounded by an increase in Prevotella 46 . An Iranian study reported a significantly higher level of fecal ATG5, which is a protein required for autophagosome formation, in patients with UC and suggested that ATG5 protein found in stools could be a potential diagnostic biomarker for the diagnosis of UC 47 . One Korean study identified hypermethylated promoters of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in patients with CD, suggesting they may be candidate noninvasive diagnostic markers of IBD 48 …”