Vitamin C deficiency attenuates liver fibrosis by way of up-regulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma expression in senescence marker protein 30 knockout mice

Senescence marker protein 30 (SMP30), an important aging marker molecule that is highly expressed in the liver, has been known to protect hepatocytes from apoptosis by the synthesis of vitamin C. To explore the function of SMP30 in liver fibrosis, the effect of SMP30 deficiency on liver fibrosis was investigated in SMP30 knockout (KO) mice. Moreover, the in vivo results were further confirmed by way of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) isolation. We demonstrated that carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced liver fibrosis and the nuclear translocation of p-Smad2/3, the immediate downstream of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), were significantly inhibited in the liver of SMP30 KO mice compared with wildtype (WT) mice. We also confirmed that both WT and SMP30 KO HSCs did not express SMP30. Finally, we further confirmed that up-regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ) caused by a lack of vitamin C was the pivotal factor in the mechanisms for attenuated liver fibrosis of SMP30 KO mice, and feeding with vitamin C restored CCl4-induced liver fibrosis in SMP30 KO mice. Conclusion: Vitamin C deficiency by SMP30 depletion attenuated liver fibrosis by way of up-regulated PPAR-γ expression in SMP30KOmice. Our results provide, for the first time, the possible mechanisms underlying inhibition of HSC activation associated with vitamin C and PPAR-γ up-regulation in liver fibrosis of SMP30 KO mice.