The Journal of Practical Medicine ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (9): 1309-1318.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-5725.2025.09.006

• Basic Research • Previous Articles    

House dust mite⁃induced autophagy affects airway epithelial barrier function through β⁃catenin⁃Snail signaling pathway

Ziling ZENG1,2,Xing WANG1,Hongmei TANG1,Zhibin WANG1,Ning MA1,Yuejiao LI1,Xiaoyun WANG1,Xiefang YUAN1,Guofeng XU1,Qiaoqiao WANG2,Wen ZHANG2,Jiayao DUAN1,2,Yun ZHANG1,2()   

  1. Inflammation & Allergic Diseases Research Unit,Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University,Luzhou 646000,Sichuan,China
  • Received:2025-02-07 Online:2025-05-10 Published:2025-05-20
  • Contact: Yun ZHANG E-mail:zhangyun000hf@163.com

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the mechanism of autophagy induced by House dust mites (HDM) on airway epithelial tight junction through β-catenin-Snail signaling pathway. Methods Human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE) were stimulated with HDM at different time points (0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 h) and different concentrations (0, 40, 100, 200 μg/mL) to screen the appropriate stimulation concentration and stimulation time. 16HBE cells were treated with oxidative stress inhibitor N-acetylcysteine (NAC), autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA), HDM, and their combinations. Cells were transfected with mCherry-EGFP-LC3B, Beclin-1-siRNA, and ATG14-siRNA lentivirus and then stimulated with NAC and HDM. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the expression levels of autophagy-related protein LC3B, tight junction-related proteins Occludin, and ZO-1 in airway epithelial cells. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by using DCFH-DA in each group. The protein expression levels of Occludin, ZO-1, LC3B, Beclin-1, ATG5, ATG14, P62, Snail, β-catenin and p-β-catenin were detected by Western blot method. Results Immunofluorescence results showed that compared with the control group, 200 μg/mL HDM stimulation induced cellular autophagy, increased the expression level of LC3B protein, and promoted the level of ROS, all with statistical significances(all P < 0.05). Compared with the HDM group, the HDM + 3-MA, HDM + ATG14-si, and HDM + Beclin-1-si groupsall showed significantincreases in the expression levels of tight junction-related proteins Occludin and ZO-1 (P < 0.05). The HDM + NAC group demonstrated significant decreases both in the level of ROS andin the expression level of LC3B protein.Western blot results revealed that compared with HDM, 3-MA and autophagy protein low-expression beads (Beclin-1-si, ATG14-si) attenuated HDM-induced cellular autophagy (P < 0.05), inhibited HDM-induced upregulation of Snail and p-β- catenin expression, and improved HDM-induced decreases in Occludin and ZO-1(P < 0.05). Moreover, compared with the HDM group, the NAC + HDM group exhibited significant decreases both in the conversion of LC3BⅠ to LC3BⅡ (P < 0.001) in the protein levels of Snail, p-β-catenin, Beclin-1 and ATG14 (P < 0.01), but significant increases in the protein levels of Occludin and ZO-1 (P < 0.05). Conclusion HDM affects the tight connections between airway epithelial cells by inducing autophagy, which may be attributed to the β-catenin-Snail signaling pathway.

Key words: house dust mite, cellular autophagy, human bronchial epithelial cells, tight junctions

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