Disruption of connective tissue growth factor by short hairpin RNA inhibits collagen synthesis and extracellular matrix secretion in hepatic stellate cells

Purpose: Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. This study aimed at investigating that the disruption of CTGF expression by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) could modulate the production of fibrosis-related components in hepatic stellate HSC-T6 cells. Methods: Three plasmids expressing individual shRNA were constructed and transfected into HSC-T6 cells respectively. The levels of CTGF and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) expression were determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot assays. Furthermore, the production of collagens and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, including type III procollagen (PC III), type IV collagen (collagen IV), laminin (LN) and hyaluronic acid (HA) in the CTGF-disrupted cells, were analysed by radioimmunoassay. Results: Following transfection with the pEGFP-CTGFshRNA1, the expression of CTGF was disrupted in HSC-T6 cells. While the knockdown of CTGF expression failed to modulate the expression of TGF-beta 1, it did significantly reduce the production of PC III, collagen IV, LN and HA by HSC-T6 cells. Conclusion: Our data suggest that shRNA-mediated disruption of CTGF expression can attenuate ECM synthesis. Potentially, our findings may aid in the design of a CTGF-based new therapy for treatment of hepatic fibrosis.