News Release

Molecular mechanism underlying natural taurine protection against hepatic fibrosis

Peer-Reviewed Publication

World Journal of Gastroenterology

Hepatic fibrosis (HF) occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases and approximately 25%-40% of HF cases may ultimately progress to hepatic cirrhosis. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) contribute significantly to the occurrence of HF and the activation of HSC is the key issue in the pathogenesis of HF. Taurine is a kind of important anti-injury substance in the body. Taurine has a protective effect on various types of liver injury. It has been clear that the antifibrotic mechanism of taurine may involve its inhibition of the activation and proliferation of HSCs. However, the molecular mechanism of taurine-mediated antifibrotic activity is largely unknown.

A research article to be published on April 21, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. A research team led by Professor Jian Liang analyzed the differential expression of proteins between taurine-treated HSCs and controls by comparative proteomics technologies.

Nineteen differentially expressed proteins (11 up-regulated and 8 down-regulated) were identified by two-dimensional electrophoresis/mass spectrometry, and the expression profiles of GLO1 and ANXA1 were validated by Western blotting. GO analysis found that these differentially expressed proteins were enriched within biological processes such as "cellular apoptosis", "oxidation reaction" and "metabolic process" in clusters. Flow cytometric analysis showed that taurine-treated HSCs had a significantly increased apoptosis rate when compared with the control group.

Their results are very helpful to understand better the molecular mechanism underlying taurine's protection against HF and thereby provide new targets for the management of HF and drug development.

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Reference: Deng X, Liang J, Lin ZX, Wu FS, Zhang YP, Zhang ZW. Natural taurine promotes apoptosis of human hepatic stellate cells in proteomics analysis. World J Gastroenterol 2010;16(15): 1916-1923 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v16/i15/1916.htm

Correspondence to: Jian Liang, Professor, The Affiliated Ruikang Hospital of Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, Nanning 530011, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. dx8848@126.com Telephone: +86-771-2238022 Fax: +86-771-2238869

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2008 IF: 2.081. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.


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