RAP-8 ameliorates liver fibrosis by modulating cell cycle and oxidative stress

The rapeseed protein derived peptide DHNNPQIR (named as RAP-8) has been previously reported to possess antioxidant activity and alleviate liver fibrosis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential crucial pathways involved in ameliorating liver fibrosis of RAP-8.

Next-generation sequencing of messenger RNA (RNA-Seq) analysis of the fibrotic and RAP-8 treated mice was performed. Western blot, qPCR and flow cytometry detection analysis were conducted to measure cell cycle and oxidative stress in LX-2 cells and liver samples.

588 overlapped differentially expressed genes were obtained from a batch of genes RAP-8 altered. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis revealed that changes in the most significant modules were mainly enriched in cell division, nuclear division and mitotic cell cycle process, while alterations in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes were mainly enriched in cell cycle. Thereafter, according to the co-expression network analysis, the regulations of three core genes (Cenpp, Cyp2c55, Serpinh1) were verified that might be targets for treating liver fibrosis. Furthermore, through experimental verification, we demonstrated that RAP-8 induced cell cycle arrest and prevents oxidation stress.

As a promising therapeutic candidate for hepatic fibrosis treating, RAP-8 exhibited anti-fibrotic effects via exerting cell cycle arrest and inhibiting oxidative stress.