| First Author | Wang X | Year | 2005 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 102 |
| Issue | 44 | Pages | 15791-6 |
| PubMed ID | 16236725 | Mgi Jnum | J:102932 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3608245 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.0507375102 |
| Citation | Wang X, et al. (2005) Dysregulation of TGF-beta1 receptor activation leads to abnormal lung development and emphysema-like phenotype in core fucose-deficient mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102(44):15791-6 |
| abstractText | The core fucosylation (alpha1,6-fucosylation) of glycoproteins is widely distributed in mammalian tissues, and is altered under pathological conditions. To investigate physiological functions of the core fucose, we generated alpha1,6-fucosyltransferase (Fut8)-null mice and found that disruption of Fut8 induces severe growth retardation and death during postnatal development. Histopathological analysis revealed that Fut8(-/-) mice showed emphysema-like changes in the lung, verified by a physiological compliance analysis. Biochemical studies indicated that lungs from Fut8(-/-) mice exhibit a marked overexpression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), such as MMP-12 and MMP-13, highly associated with lung-destructive phenotypes, and a down-regulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as elastin, as well as retarded alveolar epithelia cell differentiation. These changes should be consistent with a deficiency in TGF-beta1 signaling, a pleiotropic factor that controls ECM homeostasis by down-regulating MMP expression and inducing ECM protein components. In fact, Fut8(-/-) mice have a marked dysregulation of TGF-beta1 receptor activation and signaling, as assessed by TGF-beta1 binding assays and Smad2 phosphorylation analysis. We also show that these TGF-beta1 receptor defects found in Fut8(-/-) cells can be rescued by reintroducing Fut8 into Fut8(-/-) cells. Furthermore, exogenous TGF-beta1 potentially rescued emphysema-like phenotype and concomitantly reduced MMP expression in Fut8(-/-) lung. We propose that the lack of core fucosylation of TGF-beta1 receptors is crucial for a developmental and progressive/destructive emphysema, suggesting that perturbation of this function could underlie certain cases of human emphysema. |
