查看文章

The pathology of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) remains unknown. Tobacco smoking is a risk factor for IPF and tobacco smoke‐induced oxidative stress can initiate/worsen epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) in pulmonary epithelial cells, leading to IPF. Ergothioneine (ET) is an antioxidant amino acid available exclusively from the diet. ET requires its physiological transporter OCTN1 (SLC22A4) for cellular uptake and accumulation. Genetic variants of SLC22A4 have been associated with inflammatory bowel diseases and COPD, diseases with fibrotic phenotype. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that ET protects lung epithelial cells in vitro from factors implicated with EMT.

NCl‐H441 and A549 cells were cultured in RPMI‐1640 medium supplemented with 5% FBS and 1% sodium pyruvate, at 37°C and in 5% CO₂ atmosphere. In some experiments, the medium was supplemented with 250 or 500 μM ET …