Genetic Deletion of Polo-Like Kinase 2 Induces a Pro-Fibrotic Pulmonary Phenotype

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Pulmonary fibrosis is the chronic-progressive replacement of healthy lung tissue by extracellular matrix, leading to the destruction of the alveolar architecture and ultimately death. Due to limited pathophysiological knowledge, causal therapies are still missing and consequently the prognosis is poor. Thus, there is an urgent clinical need for models to derive effective therapies. Polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2) is an emerging regulator of fibroblast function and fibrosis. We found a significant downregulation of PLK2 in four different entities of human pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, we characterized the pulmonary phenotype of PLK2 knockout (KO) mice. Isolated pulmonary PLK2 KO fibroblasts displayed a pronounced myofibroblast phenotype reflected by increased expression of αSMA, reduced proliferation rates and enhanced ERK1/2 and SMAD2/3 phosphorylation. In PLK2 KO, the expression of the fibrotic cytokines osteopontin and IL18 was elevated compared to controls. Histological analysis of PLK2 KO lungs revealed early stage remodeling in terms of alveolar wall thickening, increased alveolar collagen deposition and myofibroblast foci. Our results prompt further investigation of PLK2 function in pulmonary fibrosis and suggest that the PLK2 KO model displays a genetic predisposition towards pulmonary fibrosis, which could be leveraged in future research on this topic.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number617
Pages (from-to)1-15
Number of pages15
JournalCells
Volume10
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 11 Mar 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85103920485
ORCID /0009-0008-1895-4538/work/142248968
ORCID /0000-0003-2514-9429/work/148606768
Mendeley bf8f63a1-4ac0-3e21-b266-4fa914bb6c24

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals