AMPK α2 deficiency exacerbates long-term PM2.5 exposure-induced lung injury and cardiac dysfunction.

In this study, we exposed wild-type (WT) and AMPKα2-/- mice to either airborne PM2.5 (mean daily concentration ~64µg/m3) or filtered air for 6 months through a whole-body exposure system. After exposure, AMPKα2-/- mice developed severe lung injury and left ventricular dysfunction. In the PM2.5-exposed lungs and hearts, loss of AMPKα2 resulted in higher levels of fibrotic genes, more collagen deposition, lower levels of peroxiredoxin 5 (Prdx5), and greater induction of oxidative stress and inflammation than observed in the lungs and hearts of WT mice. In PM2.5-exposed BEAS-2B and H9C2 cells, inhibition of AMPK activity significantly decreased cell viability and Prdx5 expression, and increased the intracellular ROS and p-NF-κB levels. Collectively, our results provide the first direct evidence that AMPK has a marked protective effect on the adverse health effects induced by long-term PM2.5 exposure. Our findings suggest that strategies to increase AMPK activity may provide a novel approach to attenuate air pollution associated disease.
PMID: 29753072 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Free Radical Biology and Medicine - May 9, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Wang H, Shen X, Tian G, Shi X, Huang W, Wu Y, Sun L, Peng C, Liu S, Huang Y, Chen X, Zhang F, Chen Y, Ding W, Lu Z Tags: Free Radic Biol Med Source Type: research