Potential of PAQosome as a therapeutic target for hepatic fibrosis

The condition of hepatic fibrosis is hazardous. Therefore, it is vital that we investigate the mechanism of hepatic fibrosis to provide new targets for treatment.

Preliminary screening and research was carried out based on our prior results and our speculated role of the particle with quaternary structure arrangement (PAQosome) in hepatic fibrosis. The experiments were conducted using LX-2 or HepG2 cell lines by western blotting, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, luciferase assays, and co-immunoprecipitation and were further validated in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.

We screened and proved that several subunits of the PAQosome regulate the development of liver fibrosis, including the asparagine synthetase domain-containing 1 upstream open reading frame (ASDURF), prefoldin subunit 4 (PFDN4), prefoldin subunit 5 (PFDN5), unconventional prefoldin RNA polymerase II subunit 5 interactor (URI1), and ubiquitously expressed prefoldin-like chaperone (UXT). ASDURF promotes hepatic fibrosis through the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1)/Sekelsky mothers against decapentaplegic homologue 3 (Smad3) and NF-κB signaling pathways. ASDURF regulates the expression of asparagine synthetase domain-containing 1 (ASNSD1). PFDN4, PFDN5, URI1, and UXT regulate cell proliferation through the PI3K/AKT pathway, and thus regulate liver fibrosis. A hepatic fibrosis score ≥ F2 was selected as the diagnostic criteria for hepatic fibrosis in the GSE96971 database. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of PFDN4, PFDN5, UXT, and ASNSD1 were 0.862 (confidence interval [CI]: 0.6588-1.000), 0.538 (CI: 0.224-0.853), 0.708 (CI: 0.449-0.966), and 0.831 (CI: 0.638-1.000), respectively.

These findings demonstrate that the PAQosome is a brand new target for hepatic fibrosis therapy.