Resistin induces cardiac fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation through JAK/STAT3 and JNK/c-Jun signaling

Cardiac fibrosis is characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins and myofibroblast differentiation. Our previous findings have implicated resistin in cardiac fibrosis; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are still unclear. Here we investigated the role of resistin in fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation and elucidated the pathways involved in this process. Fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transdifferentiation was induced with resistin or TGFβ1 in NIH-3T3 and adult cardiac fibroblasts. mRNA and protein expression of fibrotic markers were analyzed by qPCR and immunoblotting. Resistin-knockout mice, challenged with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 20 weeks to stimulate cardiac impairment, were analyzed for cardiac function and fibrosis using histologic and molecular methods. Cardiac fibroblasts stimulated with resistin displayed increased fibroblast-to-myofibroblast conversion, with increased levels of αSma, col1a1, Fn, Ccn2 and Mmp9, with remarkable differences in the actin network appearance. Mechanistically, resistin promotes fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transdifferentiation and fibrogenesis via JAK2/STAT3 and JNK/c-Jun signaling pathways, independent of TGFβ1. Resistin-null mice challenged with HFD showed an improvement in cardiac function and a decrease in tissue fibrosis and reduced mRNA levels of fibrogenic markers. These findings are the first to delineate the role of resistin in the process of cardiac fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation via JAK/STAT3 and JNK/c-Jun pathways, potentially leading to stimulation of cardiac fibrosis.